● Central Government—Still Without Responsible Government

No responsible government was envisaged in the Act for the government at the all-India level. The main points were:

Executive (i) The governor-general was to be the chief executive authority.

(ii) There were to be two lists for administration— central and provincial.

(iii) In the viceroy’s executive council of eight, three were to be Indians.

(iv) The governor-general retained full control over the reserved subjects in the provinces.

(v) The governor-general could restore cuts in grants, certify bills rejected by the central legislature and issue ordinances.

Legislature (i) A bicameral arrangement was introduced. The lower house or Central Legislative Assembly would consist of 145 members (41 nominated and 104 elected—

52 General, 30 Muslims, 2 Sikhs, 20 Special) and the upper house or Council of State would have 60 members, of which

26 were to be nominated and 34 elected—20 General, 10

Muslims, 3 Europeans and 1 Sikh (as per the figures given by Subhash Kashyap).

(ii) The Council of State had a tenure of 5 years and had only male members, while the Central Legislative Assembly had a tenure of 3 years.

(iii) The legislators could ask questions and supplementaries, pass adjournment motions and vote a part of the budget, but 75 per cent of the budget was still not votable.

Some Indians found their way into important committees including finance.

● On the home government (in Britain) front, the Government of India Act, 1919 made an important change— the Secretary of State for India was henceforth to be paid out of the British exchequer.