RAS question
The Government of India Act, 1935 proposed which feature that was never implemented?
Correct answer: (D) All-India Federation including Princely States.
The Government of India Act, 1935 proposed an All-India Federation including British Indian provinces and Princely States, but that federation never came into existence.
Explanation
The Government of India Act, 1935 tried to create a federal constitutional structure by bringing British Indian provinces and Princely States under one common constitution. IGNOU Unit 4 states that the princely states had the option to join through Instruments of Accession, while the Act also provided federal features such as a written constitution, division of subjects and a Federal Court. The proposed All-India Federation did not materialise. The Act was introduced in the provinces, and provincial provisions functioned, but the federal scheme at the Centre failed because the requisite princely-state accession did not happen.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Federal Court was not merely proposed; the Act established it to interpret the Act and deal with inter-province conflicts.
- (B) Provincial autonomy was implemented under the Act, even though its working was restricted by safeguards and British control.
- (C) Bicameral legislature was an institutional feature under the Act, not the specific feature that failed to come into existence.
Concept
The Government of India Act, 1935 is central to constitutional reform because it exposed the gap between provisions on paper and actual implementation. RAS repeatedly asks about the Act because it shaped later constitutional development while exposing the limits of colonial federalism.