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ESTABLISHMENT OF ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE (AIML)

ESTABLISHMENT OF ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE (AIML) (30DECEMBER, 1906) Introduction: In the opinion Dr. K.K. Aziz, four factors were r...

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS (1909)

MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS (1909)
In 1906, Lord Morley, the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs, announced in the British parliament that his government wanted to introduce new reforms for India, in which the locals were to be given more powers in legislative affairs. With this, a series of correspondences started between him and Lord Minto, the then Governor General of India. A committee was appointed by the Government of India to propose a scheme of reforms. The committee submitted its report, and after the approval of Lord Minto and Lord Morley, the Act of 1909 was passed by the British parliament. The Act of 1909 is commonly known as the Minto-Morley Reforms.
The following were the main features of the Act of 1909:
§     The number of the members of the Legislative Council at the Center was increased from 16 to 60.
§     The number of the members of the Provincial Legislatives was also increased. It was fixed as 50 in the provinces of Bengal, Madras and Bombay, and for the rest of the provinces it was 30.
§     The member of the Legislative Councils, both at the Center and in the provinces, were to be of four categories i.e. ex-officio members (Governor General and the members of their Executive Councils), nominated official members (those nominated by the Governor General and were government officials), nominated non-official members (nominated by the Governor General but were not government officials) and elected members (elected by different categories of Indian people).
§     Right of separate electorate was given to the Muslims.
§     At the Center, official members were to form the majority but in provinces non-official members would be in majority.
§     The members of the Legislative Councils were permitted to discuss the budgets, suggest the amendments and even to vote on them; excluding those items that were included as non-vote items. They were also entitled to ask supplementary questions during the legislative proceedings.
§     The Secretary of State for India was empowered to increase the number of the Executive Councils of Madras and Bombay from two to four.
§     Two Indians were nominated to the Council of the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs.
§     The Governor General was empowered to nominate one Indian member to his Executive Council.

ANALYSIS

The Minto-Morley Reforms drew a gloomy picture. Though, this act appeased some of the Indians, the majority was not satisfied with it. The result was widespread criticism of the Government. As a matter of fact, the Indian National Congress was divided into two factions i.e. the “moderate,” which was led by G.K. Gokhale and the “extremist,” which was led by B.G. Tilak. The moderate faction welcomed the Reforms. In the Imperial Legislative Council, Gokhale said, “My Lord, I sincerely believed that you and Lord Morley have saved the country from anarchy and chaos”. On other hand, the extremist faction rejected the act of 1909. They were not in the favor of the Reforms. It was because of its contradiction to Lord Morley’s dispatch dated November 27, 1908. On the contrary, the All India Muslim League welcomed the council act of 1909. The League passed a resolution, which offered cooperation with the government for the success of the Reforms, in the Delhi session on 1910.

In spite of all its demerits and flaws, the Reforms contributed and offered space for political development. The inclusion of the Indians in Councils was a great experience for the Indians. They became part of Legislative Councils. They could move resolutions, discuss Bills elaborately, and approved Bills. In this context, the instances are; 24 resolutions were accepted out of 168 in the Imperial Legislative Council, and 30 non-official amendments were presented in the Indian Factories Bill and 7 were approved. Further, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, as a private member, also presented a Bill, Waqf-alal-Aulad, which was passed by the Council. In the constitutional evolution of India, the Act of 1909 was a decided step and opened the door for real politics.



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