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RAS question

Under the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919), dyarchy was introduced at which level?

Correct answer: (C) Provincial level.

Under the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, dyarchy was introduced at the provincial level under the Government of India Act 1919.

  1. (A)

    Central level

  2. (B)

    Both central and provincial

  3. (C)

    Provincial level

  4. (D)

    District level

Explanation

The Government of India Act 1919, associated with the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, introduced dyarchy in the Governor's Provinces. Dyarchy meant a dual arrangement within provincial government: some subjects were placed on a transferred list and handled with Indian ministers answerable to the Provincial Council, while the remaining areas stayed on the reserved side of administration. The same core split operated as reserved subjects administered by the Governor with the Executive Council and transferred subjects administered by the Governor with ministers responsible to the legislature. This is why the level matters: the reform did not create dyarchy for the central government or districts; it reorganised provincial administration.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) The central level was affected by other 1919 changes, including an enlarged Imperial Legislative Council and bicameral legislature, but dyarchy itself was introduced in the provinces.
  • (B) The 1919 Act did not apply dyarchy at both levels; the dual reserved-transferred arrangement belonged to provincial administration.
  • (D) District administration was not the unit where the 1919 dyarchy scheme divided subjects into reserved and transferred lists.

Concept

This tests constitutional development under British rule, especially the institutional design of the Government of India Act 1919. RAS repeats this because dyarchy, responsible government and provincial autonomy form a clear sequence in modern Indian polity history.

Source

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