UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 28 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Government of India Act 1919
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2015
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicConstitutional Development
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined
Show answer
Answer: B. the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments
Verdict
The answer is the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments. The Government of India Act, 1919 demarcated central and provincial subjects.
Analysis
The Act relaxed central control over the provinces by separating central and provincial subjects for the first time, and authorised the central and provincial legislatures to make laws on their respective lists. It also introduced dyarchy in the provinces, dividing provincial subjects into transferred and reserved. Separation of judiciary and legislature was not its concern. The powers of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy were adjusted by it but not clearly defined in the sense the question means, and the fourth option fails because the Act plainly did define one of the listed things.
Source
M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity, page 1.7.
How to crack it
The constitutional development chapter is best learned as one signature contribution per Act. 1909 gives separate electorates, 1919 gives dyarchy in the provinces and the first central and provincial demarcation, 1935 gives provincial autonomy and a federal scheme, 1947 gives partition and dominion status. When a question asks what an Act clearly defined, the answer is that Act's signature contribution, and everything else in the options belongs to a neighbouring Act.