---
title: "Constitutional Acts of 1909, 1919 & 1935: UPSC"
description: "The 1909, 1919 and 1935 Acts introduced separate electorates, dyarchy and provincial autonomy. Compare their provisions and constitutional impact for UPSC GS-1."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/upsc-modern-history-constitutional-development-the-acts-of-1909-1919-1935"
---

[New](https://modeldiplomat.com/)

Constitutional development: the Acts of 1909, 1919, 1935

Read 1 of 3

1/70 XP so far this lesson

Lesson 18 min 20 XP

# Constitutional development: the Acts of 1909, 1919, 1935

The 1909 Morley-Minto, 1919 Montagu-Chelmsford and 1935 Government of India Acts: their provisions, separate electorates, dyarchy and provincial autonomy.

## The constitutional staircase, 1909-1935

British constitutional reform in India advanced through three statutes that progressively, and grudgingly, enlarged Indian participation while preserving imperial control. Each responded to nationalist pressure and each carried a poison pill that the Congress later condemned.

## The Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms)

Named after John Morley, Secretary of State, and Lord Minto, the Viceroy, the Act enlarged the legislative councils. The Imperial Legislative Council was raised to 60 members; provincial councils were expanded with elected non-official majorities in the provinces (but not at the centre). Members gained the right to ask supplementary questions and discuss the budget, though the official majority at the centre kept real power with the executive. Its decisive and lasting feature was the introduction of **separate electorates for Muslims** under a system of communal representation, conceded after the Simla Deputation of October 1906 led by the Aga Khan and institutionalised after the formation of the Muslim League in December 1906. Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian on the Viceroy's Executive Council (1909). The Congress, then under Moderate leadership, welcomed the expansion but the separate-electorate principle planted the seed of communal politics that flowered into Partition.

## The Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms)

Flowing from Edwin Montagu's declaration of 20 August 1917 promising the "gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government," this Act introduced **dyarchy** in the provinces. Provincial subjects were split into 'Reserved' (law and order, finance, controlled by the Governor and his executive council) and 'Transferred' (education, health, agriculture, local government, administered by ministers responsible to the legislature). It created a **bicameral central legislature** (Council of State and Legislative Assembly), relaxed the central official majority, separated central and provincial subjects, established a Public Service Commission (1926), and provided for a statutory commission after ten years. Separate electorates were extended to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans. The franchise remained narrow (property-based). The Congress, radicalised after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Rowlatt Act of 1919, dismissed the reforms as inadequate.

## The Government of India Act, 1935

The longest pre-independence statute, the 1935 Act emerged from the Simon Commission report (1930), the three Round Table Conferences (1930-32), the Communal Award (1932) and the resulting white paper. It abolished provincial dyarchy and granted **provincial autonomy**, with ministers responsible to elected legislatures; the 1937 elections saw Congress form ministries in most provinces. It introduced **dyarchy at the centre** and proposed an **All-India Federation** of British provinces and princely states, which never materialised because the princes did not accede. It distributed powers through three lists (Federal, Provincial, Concurrent) with residuary powers to the Governor-General, established the Reserve Bank of India and a Federal Court (1937), and extended separate electorates and reservations per the Communal Award and Poona Pact. Its federal scheme and lists were carried forward, with modification, into the Constitution of independent India.

One question, then back to the lesson

Ask about this lesson