The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
. The reforms take their name from
Edwin Montagu, the
Secretary of State for India from 1917 to 1922, and
Lord Chelmsford, the
Viceroy of India between 1916 and 1921. The reforms were outlined in the Montagu–Chelmsford Report, prepared in 1918, and formed the basis of the
Government of India Act 1919. The constitutional reforms were considered by
Indian nationalists not to go far enough though British conservatives were critical of them. The important features of this act were that:
# The
Imperial Legislative Council
The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...
was now to consist of two houses: the
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Indian Legislature, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes calle ...
and the
Council of State
A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
.
# The provinces were to follow the Dual Government System, or
diarchy.
Background
Edwin Montagu became
Secretary of State for India in June 1917 after
Austen Chamberlain had resigned over the capture of
Kut by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in 1916 and the capture of an
Indian army that was staged there. Montagu put before the
British Cabinet a proposed statement regarding his intention to work towards the gradual development of free institutions in India with a view to ultimate self-government.
Lord Curzon thought that gave Montagu too much emphasis on working towards self-government and suggested that he work towards increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire. The Cabinet approved the statement with Curzon's amendment incorporated in place of Montagu's original statement.
Reforms
In late 1917, Montagu went to India to meet
Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, and leaders of Indian community, to discuss the introduction of limited self-government to India, and the protection rights of minority communities. He drew up a report, with
Bhupendra Nath Bose,
Lord Donoghmore,
William Duke and
Charles Roberts.
The report went before the Cabinet on 24 May and 7 June 1918 and was embodied in the
Government of India Act of 1919. The reforms represented the maximum concessions the British were prepared to make at that time. The franchise was extended, and increased authority was given to central and provincial legislative councils, but the Viceroy remained responsible only to London.
The changes at the provincial level were very significant, as the provincial legislative councils contained a considerable majority of elected members. In a system called "
diarchy", the nation-building departments of government were placed under ministers, who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the "steel frame" of British rule were retained by executive councilors, who were nominated by the governor. They were often but not always British and were responsible to the governor. The Act of 1919 introduced diarchy to the provinces.
Accordingly, the rights of the central and provincial governments were divided in clear-cut terms. The central list included rights over defence, foreign affairs, telegraphs, railways, postal, foreign trade etc. The provincial list dealt with the affairs like health, sanitation, education, public work, irrigation, jail, police, justice etc. The powers that were not included in the state list vested in the hands of the central government. In case of any conflict between the 'reserved' and 'unreserved' powers of the State (the former included finance, police, revenue and publication of books, and the latter included health, sanitation and local-self government), the governor had the final say. In 1921, the "Diarchy" was installed in
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
,
Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
,
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
, the
United Provinces, the
Central Provinces, the
Punjab,
Bihar and Orissa, and
Assam; in 1932 it was extended to the
North-West Frontier Province.
In 1921, another change that had been recommended by the report was carried out by elected local councils being set up in rural areas, and during the 1920s, urban municipal corporations were made more democratic and "Indianized".
The main provisions were the following:
# The number of voters was increased
# The secretary of state would control affairs relating to Government of India.
# The
Imperial Legislative Council
The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...
would comprise two chambers: the
Council of State
A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
and the
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Indian Legislature, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes calle ...
.
# The Imperial Legislative Council was empowered to enact laws on any matter for whole of India.
# The Viceroy was given powers to summon, prorogue, dissolve the chambers, and to promulgate ordinances.
# The number of Indians in Viceroy's Executive Council would be three out of eight members.
# Bicameral Provincial Legislative Councils were established.
# There would be diarchy in the provinces:
## Reserved subjects would include finance, law and order, army and police.
## Transferred subjects would include public health, education, agriculture and local self-government.
# Direct elections and an extension of the communal franchise would occur.
[Madan Mohan Malaviya (2009). ''A criticism of Montagu-Chelmsford proposals of Indian constitutional reform.'' Chintamani]
Columbia University Libraries Collection
pp. 1–8
# A council of princes was also set up with 108 members to allow princes to debate matters of importance, but it had no power, and some princes failed even to attend what was little more than a 'talking shop'.
Reception in India
Many Indians had fought for the British in World War I, and they expected much greater concessions. The
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
and the
Muslim League had recently come together demanding self-rule. The 1919 reforms did not satisfy political demands in India. Colonial authorities repressed opposition throughout India, and restrictions on the press and on movement were re-enacted through the
Rowlatt Acts introduced in 1919. The measures were rammed through the Legislative Council with the unanimous opposition of the Indian members. Several members of the council, including
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, resigned in protest. The measures were widely seen throughout India as a betrayal of the strong support given by the population for the British war effort.
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
launched a nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Acts with the strongest level of protest in the
Punjab. The situation worsened in
Amritsar in April 1919, when General
Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on demonstrators who were hemmed into a walled compound. Estimates of deaths range from 379 to 1500 or more and 1200 people injured, 192 of them seriously. Montagu ordered an inquiry into the events at Amritsar by Lord Hunter. The Hunter Inquiry recommended the dismissal of Dyer, who had commanded the troops, which led to Dyer's sacking. Many British citizens supported Dyer, whom they considered had received unfair treatment from the Hunter Inquiry. The conservative ''
Morning Post'' newspaper collected a subscription of £26,000 for Dyer, and Sir
Edward Carson moved a censure motion on Montagu that was nearly successful. Montagu was saved largely because of a strong speech in his defence by
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
.
The Amritsar massacre further inflamed Indian nationalist sentiment and ended, or at least reduced, the initial response of reluctant co-operation.
At the grassroots level, many young Indians wanted faster progress towards Indian independence and were disappointed by their lack of advancement as Britons returned to their former positions in the administration. At the Indian National Congress annual session in September 1920, delegates supported Gandhi's proposal of
swaraj, or self-rule, preferably within the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
but out of it if necessary. The proposal was to be implemented through a policy of non-cooperation with British rule and so Congress did not field candidates in the first elections, held in 1921 under the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.
Review
The Montagu-Chelmsford Report stated that there should be a review after 10 years. Sir
John Simon headed the
Simon Commission, the committee that was responsible for the review and recommended further constitutional change. Three round table conferences were held in London in 1930, 1931 and 1932 with representation of the major interests. Gandhi attended the 1931
Round Table Conferences after negotiations with the British government. The major disagreement between the Indian National Congress and the government was separate electorates for each community, which Congress opposed but were retained in
Ramsay MacDonald's
Communal Award. A new
Government of India Act 1935 was passed and continued the move towards self-government that had been first made in the Montagu–Chelmsford Report.
References
Further reading
*
One Scholar’s BibliographyBritannica Encyclopaedia: Montagu-Chelmsford ReportPuja Mondal, Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms and the Government of India Act, 1919.Self study history: Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms*
Paul Johnson (1991). ''A History of the Modern World: from 1917 to the 1990s.'' Weidenfeld and Nicolson London.
* ''Merriam-Webster's Biographical Dictionary'' entry on Edwin Montagu (1995). Merriam-Webster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
1919 in British India
Indian independence movement
1919 in India
Government of British India