What were the drawbacks of the Government of India Act of 1858?

Answer 1

The revolt of 1857, jolted the British presence in India. It was inevitable that the administration of the English East India Company's territories in India would have to be re-organized. Meanwhile the industrial revolution had resulted in a fiercely competitive market in the western world, and hence many European countries had colonized other nations in order to obtain their resources at a low cost. Britains interest in India began picking up substantially and by around 1850, there was a substantial amount of British money invested in India. Hence the need to maintain control over India was imperative from the British point of view. Eventually by an act of parliament in 1858, the administration of India was passed over from the English East India Company to the British Crown.

A Secretary of State for India was appointed to be assisted by a council. The Secretary of State was a member of the parliament and as a result India was now governed by the British parliament. In place of the Governor-General a new official was appointed, know as the Viceroy. His powers were more limited then those of his predecessor and the main centre of power was with the Secretary of State and his council, headquartered in London. Hence India was now being governed from thousands of miles away, and as a result her population had even less of a say over their affairs then before. In 1861 a Imperial Legislative council was formed in India which was supposed to be an assembly that would govern the country. In reality however its powers were limited, its suggestions could not be implemented unless they were ratified by the Viceroy and the Secretary of State. It was designed merely to give the impression that India was being governed by a legislative assembly. To give it a more authentic touch, some Indians were also included in it, although these were simply hand picked nominees who hardly represented the views of the Indian public. In time the British would make more representative parliaments, but the resources assigned to the Indians would be so limited that there was little they could do for the betterment of their countrymen.

The English East India Company had ruled the country essentially in a centralized manner. Their territories were organized into the three presidencies of Bombay, Bengal and Madras as well a number of provinces. The presidencies were governed by the Governor- General and his council, and the provinces by Lieutenant governors. The centre wielded all the power and this proved to be a major disadvantage. Matters like revenue collection and expenditure were difficult to supervise and hence from the financial point of view centralization was not a good policy. Since the British presence in India was primarily for economic purposes, an efficient system of government was an essential requirement. The British over the next few years re-organized the system, giving more power to the provinces and delegating many of the responsibilities to them. Provinces would now be in charge of their own revenue collection and were supposed to use this to pay for the expenditure they incurred. The revenue system was now structured into three categories, the revenues of the provinces, the revenue of the centre and the revenue shared between the provinces and the centre. The actual system of land revenue remained essentially unchanged, with the landlord responsible for collecting and paying the revenue to the British. The British in order to further their policy of decentralization also set up various local bodies, which would focus on a small area, and would have a certain set of responsibilities and powers. The entire system appears to be one with great representation but the entire system of decentralization was aimed at benefitting the British, for it reduced costs and increased income.

An important new concept that was introduced into India was the concept of civil servants. The officials of the British crown were civil servants unlike the military officers previous empires in India had. The civil service that was responsible for the governing of India however was for all practical purposes closed to Indians, at least initially. All efforts were made to keep Indians out of the service, for instance the examinations were held only in London and was based on topics that were only taught in Britain. This ensured that only a few Indians could afford the high cost involved in the exercise. In 1878 the British reduced the maximum age to nineteen, giving prospective Indians even less time to prepare for the test. Indians who managed to enter the civil services were not treated on par with their British counterparts and their powers were much less. Indian nationalist managed to eventually persuade the British to hold the examinations in India and to raise the maximum age. Indians were also given wider representation in the civil services, although the important posts were still held by British officers. The nationalists could do nothing about the air of racial superiority the British exerted. Before concluding this section, let us take a look at the various policies that the British implemented. It is important to understand the administrative and legal systems that were put in place so as to have a better understanding of the freedom struggle.

Government of India Act of 1858

This act was passed following the British crown's taking over the governance of India from the English East India company. It was dominated by absolute imperial control with no representation for the people of India. Over the next few decades the nationalist would campaign for reforms and this would result in the passage of several Government of India acts, which slowly began giving the Indians a role in the governance of their own country. This act established the basic government structure which the British would follow till the end of their rule. India was to be governed by a Secretary of State for India ( a member of the British cabinet) who would be assisted by a Council of fifteen members (who were known as the Council of India). The above mentioned posts were held solely by Englishmen who were based in London. The representative of the British crown in India was the Viceroy, and an Executive council, once again made up solely of Englishmen.

The main features of the Government of India act of 1858 were:

-The country would be administered in a unitary fashion, with total centralization. Although the country was divided into provinces, which had their own governors and executive councils, they had very little autonomy and were merely representatives of the central government and had to follow all directions received from them.

-The military, judiciary, executive and legislature were not independent and were all controlled by the Viceroy who was responsible to the Secretary of State for India.

- The Secretary of State was the supreme authority and had a free hand in the administration of India and was responsible only to the British parliament.