Indian Councils Act, 1909

● Popularly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, the Act made the first attempt to bring in a representative and popular element in the governance of the country.

● The strength of the Imperial Legislative Council was increased.

● With regard to the central government, an Indian member was taken for the first time in the Executive Council of the Governor-General (Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Indian to join the Governor-General’s—or Viceroy’s— Executive Council, as law member.)

● The members of the Provincial Executive Council were increased.

● The powers of the legislative councils, both central and provincial, were increased.

Under this Act the real power remained with the government and the councils were left with no functions but criticism.

The introduction of separate electorates for Muslims created new problems.

Besides separate electorates for the Muslims, representation in excess of their population strength was accorded to the Muslims. Also, the income qualification for Muslim voters was kept lower than that for Hindus.

The system of election was very indirect.

Thus, the representation of the people at large remained remote and unreal.