Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms

The MontFord Reforms were brought in by the British govt. to gradually introduce self-
governing institutions into India. They take their name from E.S. Montagu, the Secy. of State
during the latter parts of WWI and Lord Chelmsford, who was the viceroy from 1916 to 1921.

Background

To pacify the extremists who were constantly putting up the demand for self-government,
Morley-Minto policy was envisaged by the Indian Councils Act, 1909. But it failed to satisfy
their aspirations. The moderates too were not happy with the excess control of the Central govt.
over the Local one. In addition to this, resentment among Indian leaders due to separate
representation for Muslims, weakening of loyalty of Muslims towards the British owing to the
war against Turkey & the annulling of the Bengal separation, and the extremist wing of
Congress resorting to terrorism, all these factors brought a huge pressure on the British to
abandon the policy of repression and to concede to the Indian demand of a responsible
government.

The other reasons were-

Failure of repressive measures- In light of Govt. of India adopting various repressive

policies, the revolutionary activities increased considerably, which included rioting,
conspiracies, political murders etc. and the policies adopted miserably failed to suppress
them. Taking into consideration these repressive measures, revolutionary movement
gathered momentum both in India and abroad. A good example of this is the Indian
Home Rule Society, established by ShyamjiKrishnavarma in 1905. The society criticized
the government policies and encouraged Indians to strengthen the Swaraj Movement. On
the other side, there was resentment among the Muslims against the annulment of
Partition of Bengal in 1911, who considered it as a concession to Hindus and a gross
injustice to Muslims. Besides, the rise of Khilafat Movement did the job of adding fuel to
the fire. The Muslim League had already resolved to patch up differences with the Indian
National Congress at the Karachi Session in 1913, which paved way for common action
of for the attainment of Self Government in India.
 The Congress-Muslim League Concord- In 1915, both the Muslim League and Congress
held their annual sessions together at Bombay and resolved to cooperate in formulating a
scheme of post-war reforms and urged the govt. to accept them. The result was the
Lucknow Pact of 1916, which according to Montagu was worthy of praise as the
testimony to the growing force of national feeling. Also, then, Sir S.P. Sinha asked that
the British government should announce the goal of the Indian Government. Lord
Chelmsford, found no difficulty in holding that the endowment of British India as an
integral part of The British Empire with self government was the goal of the British Rule.
Humiliating treatment meted out to Indians in British Colonies- Humiliation faced by the
Indians in South Africa, all thanks to The Asiatic Registration Act and Transvaal
Immigration Registration Act, both of the year 1907 forced Gandhiji to launch
Satyagraha. Not just limited to this, a Supreme Court judgment declared all marriages
invalid that were not registered and solemnized in the Christian fashion. This created a
huge pandemonium, as a result of which, the Indian Relief Act of 1914 was enacted
which reversed all the major decisions that stood to be unfair. This generated a political
unrest in India.
World War I- During the war, the majority of Indians and the Congress displayed their
devotion to the British cause in the hope of expecting liberty and justice. Naturally, they
expected due reward for thus showing their solidarity with the empire in the justification
of public law and protection of national rights. In return, for the exemplary service
rendered, the Indians obliged the govt. to grant some substantial concessions to them.
Whereas, extremists, on the other hand, saw their opportunity in the fratricidal conflicts
of the western powers and found in the grave mismanagement of Mesopotamia a means
of exciting dislike as well as contempt. Furthermore, the constant pronouncement of
British and American statement that the war for freedom, democracy and human rights
made Indians self-conscious and infused into them, a new sense of self-esteem and gave
force to their demand for self-government.
The Home Rule Movement- Started by Mrs. Annie Besant, on the lines of Irish Home
Rule Movement, its object was twofold.
i) Achieving the unity of Extremist and Moderate wings of the Congress, who had
separated way back in 1907.
 ii) Aiming to launch an intensive movement for Home Rule throughout India.

Due to all these factors, it was found necessary to abandon the unwise policy which excluded
India from the Imperial Conference and to admit her to share in the Imperial War Cabinets and
conferences of 1917-18. There was every ground therefore for the expectation that India must be
granted self-government at no distant date. Consequently, British govt. were submitted a
memorandum containing proposals for post war reforms, that included a demand for a
responsible government.

The August Declaration, 1917

In a speech during the debate on the Report of Mesopotamian Commission, that condemned
Govt. of India and the Secy. of State for conducting the Mesopotamian campaign of WWI in an
awful way; E.S. Montagu, an ex Under Secretary of State for India blamed the Indian
government for its rigidity and called it as too unrealistic to be of any use for the modern
purposes. This statement furnished a ground for the Indian Nationalist Press to demand for a
change in the government. Meanwhile, the war grew worse and Indians offered their help, but
wanted a definite promise of Swaraj in the near future. Consequently, realizing the gravity of the
situation Montagu was appointed the Secretary of State for India in place of Chamberlain who
had resigned in the aftermath of the Mesopotamian commission report. By that time the
government had also announced the removal of the ban which excluded Indians from the
commissioned ranks (officer ranks) in the army, perhaps due the contribution of Indians in the
war efforts.

On 20thAugust, 1917, Montagu, the new Secretary of State for India made a historic declaration
in the House of Commons which said that the policy of His Majestys Government with which
the Government of India is in complete accord, is that of increasing association of Indians in
every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing
institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as
an integral part of the British Empire.

The key phrase, responsible government in this statement gave the inference for the first time
that rulers are going to be answerable to the public. He further announced that His majestys
Government had decided to send him to India almost immediately for the purposes of
consultation and enquiry. He was indeed sent to India with a strong delegation consisting of Earl
of Donoughmore, Charles Roberts, Sir William Duke and Bhupendra Nath Basu.

The declaration of August 20, 1917 contained four assurances-

The self-Government within the Indian Empire was the ultimate goal of the British Rule
in India.
Self-Government. was to be given in stages and not immediately.
The successive stages were to be determined by the progress made by the Indians.
The British Parliament and the Government of India alone were to judge the time and
measure for each advance.

Constitutional significance of the August Declaration (1917):

The declaration of August 20, 1917 was a great landmark in the constitutional history of India. In
a way it was the first momentous announcement of British policy towards India since the transfer
of power from power from the company to the crown by the government of India Act 1858. The
Queens proclamation of 1858 had remained the basis of the British policy for a period of sixty
years. Now this declaration of Montagu in 1917 served as a basis of the British policy till the
independence of India.

The most significant aspect of the declaration is that it laid down in clear and unambiguous terms
that self-government was the ultimate goal of British policy in India. The declaration thus
constituted the first milestone towards the grant of responsible government to the people of
India. This was a revolutionary step. Also the point to be noted is that within a span of 9 years
the British made a fundamental change in their policy in India. The promise of responsible
government was categorically denied by Mr. Morley in 1908. Morley had emphatically declared
that he had no intention of introducing a Parliamentary form of government of India. The course
of events during these 9 years (1908-1917) had taken such a turn that the British rulers were
obliged to change their policy towards India. These events leading to the change in British policy
are described above and are failure of repressive measures and the rise in revolutionary activities,
the congress and Muslim league accord, the anger against the humiliating treatment meted out to
Indians abroad like in South Africa, the effects of World War1 and the contribution of Indians in
the war and the Home Rule movement.
One important outcome of the August declaration of 1917 was that it furnished a basis for the
Congress to intensify its activities towards the achievement of swaraj or self-rule. The
declaration indirectly helped to inculcate a sense of confidence and hope among the nationalists
that their struggle for freedom was had borne fruits.

The Montagu Mission:

Mr. Montagu, the secretary of state for India accompanied by a strong delegation, consisting of
Earl of Donoughmore, Charles Roberts, Sir William Duke and BhupendraNathBasureached
Bombay on 10th November 1917. The object of the Montagu mission was to make an enquiry
into the political conditions in India, to hear the views of the people and of the government
officials and to formulate proposals in consultation with the Viceroy.

The second and perhaps more important task before the Montagu mission, from the point of view
of the British was to keep the Indian nationalists and revolutionaries engaged in deliberations,
negotiations and discussions with the secretary of state and his delegation so that their attention
be diverted from agitations and revolutionary activities and they were induced to help the British
government in the war efforts which had reached a most critical state during the year 1917.
Montagu himself claimed that even if he failed to evolve an agreed scheme he had done
something for which the cabinet at Home ought to be grateful to him. His achievement he
claimed was that he had kept India quiet for six months at a critical period of the war.

The Proposals of Montagu- Chelmsford report:

Montagu consulted and discussed with the viceroy, the government officials, the governors of
the provinces and several Indians representing variety of people and interest. He sincerely
desired that the complete scheme of reforms should come from Indians themselves. He had to
strain hard to make stakeholders agreeable to his plan and make huge compromises to the
recalcitrant elements. The result was that the scheme which came out possessed none of the
splendor that Montagu had intended to possess (this is also one of the defects).

While finishing his report on April 21, 1918, Mr. Montagu observed that the main principle
involved in his scheme of reforms was that instead of founding the Indian government on the
confidence of the people of England, we are to gradually found it on the confidence of the people
of India.

The Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms known as the Montagu Chelmsford Report was
published on July 8, 1918. The authors of the report admitted in their preliminary survey that the
machinery of government in India as it existed did not meet the need of the time. It worked
slowly. There was an intense demand from the educated Indians to reform the working of the
government and this suggestion was supported by the official opinion also.

The report contained four governing principles which were to be embodies in the new
constitutional structure for the country. These governing principles were:

i. As far as possible there should be complete popular control in local bodies and they
should be free from outside influences.
ii. The steps for the progressive realization of responsible government should begin from the
Provinces. To make the beginning the provinces should be given some measure of
responsibility in legislative, administrative and financial matters of the government.
However, the provinces were to be given complete responsibility as soon as the
conditions permitted.
iii. The government of India was to remain wholly responsible to Parliament. The Indian
legislative council was to be enlarged and made more representative in character.
iv. The control of the Parliament (British Parliament) and the secretary of state over the
government of India and provincial government was to be relaxed gradually in proportion
to the constitutional changes introduced in the light of this scheme of reforms.

The Montagu- Chelmsford report merely enunciated the principles. To complete the work three
committees were appointed as suggested in the report. These were the Franchise committee, the
Functions committee and the committee on the reorganization of the India office.

The Franchise committee:

The Franchise committee was constituted under the leadership of Lord South Borough and was
to advise the government on the franchise and constituencies in each province and was to devise
a scheme of direct elections as far as possible. It was also to consider as to how the territorial
representation would give adequate representation to various interests and minorities in the
provincial legislative councils. The committee was to suggest the changes in the strength of the
provincial councils and the number of nominated official members in the provincial councils.

The Functions committee:

The functions committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Richard Feetham was to advise about
the functions that should be transferred to the provinces and the extent and nature of control to be
retained by the Government of India for the discharge of its responsibilities. It was also to
recommend the departments of the administration which could be transferred to the ministers.

One point to note here is that the Franchise and the Functions committee were to meet in Joint
session whenever deemed necessary.

The committee for Reorganisation of India office:

The committee for Reorganisation of India office was appointed in February 1918 under the
Presidentship of Lord Crewe. It suggested that Council of India should be abolished and
secretary of state should be assisted by and advisory board to which he might refer such matters
as he deemed necessary. The advisory board was to consist of not more than 12 members with
one third of the members being persons domiciled in India and selected from a panel of names
submitted by the non-official members of the Indian legislature (imperial or the central
legislative council). The committee also recommended the appointment of a High Commissioner
for India who was to exercise agency functions on behalf of the Government of India in London.

So this was the background of the Government of India Act, 1919 which was based on the
Montagu-Chelmsford Report. The Franchise and Functions committee presented their Reports to
the Government of India on March 10, 1919. To give effect to the proposed constitutional
changes a Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on May 29, 1919 by Montagu. It was
referred to a joint select committee of both houses of Parliament for consideration. The joint
select committee with Lord Selborne as Chairman consisted of seven members of the House of
Commons and seven from House of Lords. The committee proposed the inclusion of August,
1917 declaration as preamble to the proposed government of India Bill, 1919. The committee
drew up its final report which was accepted by House of Commons and the bill was amended
accordingly. The bill was passed by House of Commons on December 5, 1919 and by House of
Lords on December 18, 1919. It received Royal assent on December 23, 1919. Simultaneously
with the Royal assent to the bill, King George 5 issued a royal proclamation addressed to the
people of India and the Indian princes appealing them to dispel the apprehensions and cooperate
with the government for the advancement of the country. However before the GOI Act, 1919
could come into force it had to be supplemented by rules. The rules so framed under the act were
published by the government of India on July 20, 1920, and the GOI Act, 1919 finally came into
force with effect from January 1, 1921.

So this was the whole background of the coming into force of the Government of India Act,
1919. We have attempted to deal only with the background of the act and not its technical
provisions. The provisions of the Act would be dealt by the next group.