Government of India Act, 1858

The Government of India Act 1858 was accepted and passed for further implementation by the United Kingdom Parliament on 2 August 1858. Administrative control of British India was to hand over to the East India Company, then to the British Crown. The act of good governance is also known as the Government of India Act 1858. This article is about the Government of India Act 1858, the Effects of Government of India Act 1858, and the provision of the Government of India Act 1858.

What is the Government of India Act, 1858?

The United Kingdom Parliament passed an act known as the Government of India Act 1858. It was passed on 2nd August 1858. The United Kingdom Prime Minister and Lord Palmerston introduced the bill for transferring the power of the Indian Government from the East India Company to the British Crown, referring to the defects of the existing system in the Government of India. 

Nevertheless, before the bill was theorised to be passed, Lord Palmerston was compelled to resign due to another issue. During the 15th earl of derby, Edward Stanley, the one who was to be the first Secretary of State of India, introduced a different bill which said “An Act for the Better Governance of India”, and it was legislated on 2nd August 1858.

Background of the Government of India Act, 1858

The growing bitterness in England against the company’s rule reached the top when the mutiny of 1857 happened. The mutiny was stamped down, but the fright of the mutiny in London persuaded the British crown to take over the administration of India. On the 1st of September 1858, the directors of the court of the East India Company, which were held by its last solemn assembly and issued its last instructions to the service in the East stating that “Gift of the vast country and teeming billions and millions of India under her direct power, let her appreciate it, but let her does not forget the very great corporation from which she had gotten them nor the lessons to be learned from its success”. 

Company Rule Abolition

The Government of India Act presumed that India was to be governed straight in the name of the British crown. The Government of India Act abolished the company’s rule and abolished the director of the court and the Board of Control. The dual government introduced by the Pitt’s India Act was also abolished by these companies’ rule act. Indian rulers were given Liberty, the Doctrine principle of lapse was withdrawn, and some of the service doors of the Indian Government were also opened.

Key Provisions of the Government of India Act, 1858

1. The territories of India were governed in the name of the British queen. The companies of East India were neutralised. 
2. India was made a direct British Colony by the Government of India Act 1858.
3. The Indian civil services were to be installed to process the smooth functioning of the country’s management. Various provisions were introduced for the Indians to be allowed into the services.
4. By the government of India Act 1858, the lapse of doctrine had been put to an end as well as the binary functioning government proposal was also gotten rid of by the Pitt’s India Act of 1784.
5. The director of the court and the control of the board of the East British India company were trashed.
6. The company’s power and the court of directors transferred in the hands of the Secretary of State of India, Lord Stanley.
7. The Council of 15 members was to be assisted by the state’s security. The Chairman of the Council was the secretary of the state of India. 
8. The communication link between the British government and the administration was the secretary of the state. 
9. The power of the Indian and its administration is completely in the hand of the secretary of the state. Security of India also vested with the powers to send dispatches secretly to India without consulting with his Council members.
10. There was also the decision-making that the Indian princes would also have their status independent, but stipulated they accepted the British rule.
11. A proposal was declared that the pardon would be given to all the Indians who were part of the mutiny but not to those who killed the British working for the Crown.

These were the few provisions of the government of India act 1858.

Conclusion

The act of good governance is also known as the Government of India Act 1858. The administrative control of British India was to be handed over to India’s East companies by the parliament. Following the Government of India Act, 1858, India was made into British colonies in which the dual government was abolished, which was proposed by the Pitt’s India act of 1784. The mutiny was put