Which of the following statements relating to the Indian Councils Act,

Which of the following statements relating to the Indian Councils Act, 1861 is/are correct?

1. The Act introduced a grain of popular element by including non-official members in the Governor-General’s Executive Council.
2. The members were nominated and their functions were confined exclusively to consideration of legislative proposals placed before it by the Governor-General.
3. The Governor-General did not have effective legislative power.

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1 and 2 only

2 and 3 only

1, 2 and 3

1 only

Answer is Right!

Answer is Wrong!

This question was previously asked in

UPSC CDS-2 – 2018

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Statements 1 and 2 are correct, while statement 3 is incorrect. The Indian Councils Act, 1861, did introduce non-official members (who could be Indian) into the Governor-General’s Legislative Council and provincial legislative councils, which was a rudimentary step towards associating Indians with the legislative process (Statement 1). These non-official members were nominated by the Governor-General or Governors and their functions were limited strictly to the consideration of legislative business brought before the council; they could not introduce bills, ask questions, or discuss the budget (Statement 2). However, the Governor-General retained significant legislative powers, including the power to veto legislation and issue ordinances having the force of law in emergencies, meaning he certainly had effective legislative power (Statement 3 is false).

This Act is significant for introducing the principle of representative institutions, though the representation was indirect (nomination) and the powers of the councils were severely restricted. It also started the process of decentralization by restoring legislative powers to the Presidencies.

The system of portfolio was also introduced by Lord Canning under this Act, assigning specific departments to individual members of the Governor-General’s Executive Council.

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