UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — 100 years ago: The right of pathway bill
Q1. The municipal law enacted for the Madras Presidency in 1920, which survives today as the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920, bears which serial number among the Acts of that year?
- A. Act II of 1920
- B. Act IV of 1920
- C. Act V of 1920
- D. Act XI of 1920
Q2. Which one of the following is the principal general enactment, still in force, under which municipal councils in Tamil Nadu (other than city corporations) are constituted and administered?
- A. The Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920
- B. The Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971
- C. The Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994
- D. The Erode City Municipal Corporation Act, 2008
Q3. The Bill debated in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926 proposed to guarantee a right of public pathway to all classes of people over roads and streets maintained by which authority?
- A. The district board constituted for the area concerned
- B. The municipality within whose limits the road or street lay
- C. The Public Works Department of the Presidency Government
- D. The Revenue Department working under the Board of Revenue
Q4. With reference to the Right of Pathway Bill discussed in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926, consider the following:
1. It took the form of an amendment to the Madras District Municipalities Act, 1920.
2. The Select Committee's report on the Bill was presented by Mr. Saldanha.
3. Its principles were the same as those of an earlier private member's Bill introduced by Mr. Veerian.
4. It confined the right of public pathway to persons assessed to property tax within the municipality.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It took the form of an amendment to the Madras District Municipalities Act, 1920.
- The Select Committee's report on the Bill was presented by Mr. Saldanha.
- Its principles were the same as those of an earlier private member's Bill introduced by Mr. Veerian.
- It confined the right of public pathway to persons assessed to property tax within the municipality.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q5. Under the scheme of dyarchy introduced in the provinces by the Government of India Act, 1919, consider the following heads of administration:
1. Police
2. Public health
3. Irrigation
4. Land revenue
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as 'reserved' subjects?
- Police
- Public health
- Irrigation
- Land revenue
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1, 3 and 4
- C. 2 and 4 only
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q6. In the working of the provincial governments set up by the Government of India Act, 1919, the expression 'transferred subjects' denoted which one of the following?
- A. Subjects moved from the central to the provincial field by the division of administrative heads made under that Act
- B. Subjects placed with executive councillors appointed by the Crown, for which the Governor answered to the Secretary of State
- C. Subjects whose administration passed from the Governor of a province to the Governor-General in Council on his intervention
- D. Subjects placed with the Governor acting through ministers chosen by him from the elected members of the provincial legislature
Q7. Consider the following about the stages through which a Bill passes in a legislature in India:
1. The Bill is introduced at the first reading.
2. Clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill takes place at the second reading, when each clause may be accepted, amended or rejected.
3. A Bill circulated for eliciting opinion is sent through the State Governments, which publish it in their Gazettes and forward the opinions received.
4. The third reading is the stage at which the Bill is examined clause by clause and amendments to individual clauses are voted upon.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The Bill is introduced at the first reading.
- Clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill takes place at the second reading, when each clause may be accepted, amended or rejected.
- A Bill circulated for eliciting opinion is sent through the State Governments, which publish it in their Gazettes and forward the opinions received.
- The third reading is the stage at which the Bill is examined clause by clause and amendments to individual clauses are voted upon.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 only
- D. 4 only
Q8. Regarding the procedural objection raised when the pathway Bill came up in the Madras Legislative Council in 1926, consider the following:
1. Members objected that the Bill as altered was not circulated with the notice required by the Standing Orders.
2. The President of the Council admitted that the text had been changed and referred the question of the Standing Orders to the Chief Minister for decision.
3. A question was raised whether the Bill in its altered form required fresh previous sanction of the Governor-General.
4. The alterations complained of were those made in the Bill by the Select Committee.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Members objected that the Bill as altered was not circulated with the notice required by the Standing Orders.
- The President of the Council admitted that the text had been changed and referred the question of the Standing Orders to the Chief Minister for decision.
- A question was raised whether the Bill in its altered form required fresh previous sanction of the Governor-General.
- The alterations complained of were those made in the Bill by the Select Committee.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q9. Consider the following statements comparing the Vaikom Satyagraha with the contemporaneous legislative attempt to secure a right of public pathway:
1. The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–25 was directed against a ban that barred the Ezhavas and other excluded communities from using the public roads surrounding a temple in the princely state of Travancore.
2. Unlike Vaikom, which was a popular agitation, the pathway measure of 1926 was a legislative one, moved in the Bombay Legislative Council to amend the Bombay District Municipalities Act.
3. Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar, who later founded the Self-Respect Movement, both associated themselves with the Vaikom agitation.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–25 was directed against a ban that barred the Ezhavas and other excluded communities from using the public roads surrounding a temple in the princely state of Travancore.
- Unlike Vaikom, which was a popular agitation, the pathway measure of 1926 was a legislative one, moved in the Bombay Legislative Council to amend the Bombay District Municipalities Act.
- Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar, who later founded the Self-Respect Movement, both associated themselves with the Vaikom agitation.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. With reference to the Vaikom Satyagraha, consider the following:
1. It was carried on during 1924–25 in the princely state of Travancore.
2. Vaikom lies in what is today the Ernakulam district of Kerala.
3. Its immediate demand was the right of the excluded communities to use the public roads around the temple rather than admission to the shrine itself.
4. It was begun by local leaders and the Indian National Congress, and was joined later by Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It was carried on during 1924–25 in the princely state of Travancore.
- Vaikom lies in what is today the Ernakulam district of Kerala.
- Its immediate demand was the right of the excluded communities to use the public roads around the temple rather than admission to the shrine itself.
- It was begun by local leaders and the Indian National Congress, and was joined later by Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q11. The newspaper that runs the 'Hundred Years Ago' column, reprinting its own reports of exactly a century earlier, began publication in which year and in what form?
- A. In 1868, as a daily newspaper published from Calcutta
- B. In 1878, as a weekly newspaper published from Madras
- C. In 1889, as a weekly newspaper published from Madras
- D. In 1899, as a daily newspaper published from Bombay
Q12. Consider the following statements contrasting municipal government under the law of 1920 with municipal government as it stands today:
1. Municipalities today draw their status as institutions of self-government from Part IXA of the Constitution, inserted by the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, whereas the 1920 Act rested on provincial legislation alone.
2. The Schedule added by that amendment sets out eighteen functions, including urban planning, regulation of land use and water supply, which States may devolve on urban local bodies.
3. That amendment reserves not less than one-half of the seats to be filled by direct election in every municipality for women.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Municipalities today draw their status as institutions of self-government from Part IXA of the Constitution, inserted by the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, whereas the 1920 Act rested on provincial legislation alone.
- The Schedule added by that amendment sets out eighteen functions, including urban planning, regulation of land use and water supply, which States may devolve on urban local bodies.
- That amendment reserves not less than one-half of the seats to be filled by direct election in every municipality for women.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3