UPSC Prelims 2022 Q51: Dyarchy's Reserved Subjects — Explained
In the Government of India Act 1919, the functions of Provincial Government were divided into "Reserved" and "Transferred" subjects. Which of the following were treated as "Reserved" subjects?
1. Administration of Justice
2. Local Self-Government
3. Land Revenue
4. Police
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- 1, 2 and 3
- 2, 3 and 4
- 1, 3 and 4
- 1, 2 and 4
Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Administration of justice was a reserved subject under the 1919 Act. Reserved subjects were grouped under 'law and order': justice, police, land revenue and irrigation. They were run by the Governor and his Executive Council, who were not answerable to the provincial legislature.
- 2: incorrect — Local self-government was a transferred subject. It was handed to Indian ministers chosen from the elected members of the provincial legislative council. Education, public health, public works and agriculture were also transferred. Local bodies were the field where Indians had been given a share of power since Lord Ripon's resolution of 1882, so passing it to Indian ministers continued that line.
- 3: correct — Land revenue was a reserved subject. It was the provinces' main source of income and was tied to the revenue administration of the ICS. The British kept it, along with finance as a whole, with the Executive Council. Ministers in charge of transferred subjects had to depend on the funds this left them.
- 4: correct — Police was a reserved subject. Like justice, it fell under law and order, which the British refused to hand to ministers answerable to the legislature. The Governor and his executive councillors ran it, and they answered to the Government of India and the Secretary of State.
How to eliminate
Statement 2 decides this question. Local self-government is the textbook example of a transferred subject. It had been the training ground for Indian self-rule since Ripon's 1882 resolution, and dyarchy handed exactly this kind of 'nation-building' department to Indian ministers. Once you strike out statement 2, only one option leaves it out. You can also get there from the other side. The British kept anything touching law and order or revenue (police, justice, land revenue), so the reserved list is the coercive and money-raising set. The fact to remember: reserved = law and order plus finance (police, justice, land revenue, irrigation, finance); transferred = welfare and development (local self-government, education, public health, agriculture, public works).
Know more
Dyarchy (1919 Act, in force 1921–1937)
The Government of India Act 1919 came out of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. It split governing subjects into central and provincial lists. It then split the provincial list again, introducing dyarchy ('rule by two') in the major provinces.
| Reserved subjects | Transferred subjects | |
|---|---|---|
| Administered by | Governor + Executive Council | Governor + Indian ministers |
| Answerable to | Secretary of State, via the Government of India | Provincial legislative council |
| Examples | Police, justice, land revenue, irrigation, finance, labour | Local self-government, education, public health, public works, agriculture |
Why it failed
- Finance stayed reserved, so ministers had departments but little money of their own.
- The Governor could override ministers on transferred subjects. He could also certify bills or expenditure needed for reserved subjects even if the legislature voted against them.
- Ministers had no control over the ICS officers who staffed their departments.
What came before and after
- Before: the Morley-Minto Reforms (1909) enlarged the legislative councils but gave Indians no executive responsibility.
- At the Centre, the 1919 Act created a bicameral legislature (Council of State and Legislative Assembly), but there was no dyarchy there.
- After: the Government of India Act 1935 abolished provincial dyarchy and brought in provincial autonomy, with all provincial subjects under ministers. It proposed dyarchy at the Centre instead, but that part never came into force.
The ministries formed under dyarchy were the first Indian ministries. An example is the Justice Party ministry in Madras after the 1920 elections. They used local self-government and education to pass social legislation.
In the news
This is mainly a static question. It does fall in the centenary years of dyarchy: the first provincial ministries under the 1919 Act took office in 1921. In August 2021 the President addressed the centenary of the Madras Legislative Council, which became a law-making body under these reforms.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Government of India Act 1919: The question asks how this Act divided provincial government, so its Montagu-Chelmsford background frames all four statements.
- Dyarchy: The reserved/transferred split is dyarchy itself; knowing who ran each half settles every statement.
- Local self-government: Statement 2 turns on where local self-government sat in the dyarchic division of provincial subjects.
- Lord Ripon's resolution of 1882: Ripon's 1882 push for elected local bodies explains how the 1919 scheme treated local self-government in Statement 2.