Indian Councils Act 1892

The English East India Company came to the country in the 1600s and established their ruling regime in the country after taking advantage of the existing regional and cultural disparities. Over time, the Indians realised their resources were being looted and they were being undermined in their own country. Soon after this realisation, the Indians started revolting against British rule and the British felt compelled to incorporate new changes in order to press down the rebellions.

A charter act was introduced in 1833 which introduced a 4th member (law member) who was authorized to sit and vote in the council of the Governor-General for legislative purposes. Another major change incorporated by the charter was the change in the power structure of the Presidency council as they were deprived of their independent authority. Another Charter was introduced by the British in 1853 under which the law member was given the authoritative position of Member of the Council of the Governor-General and the number of the council members was increased to be 6. Apart from being a law-making body, the council was entrusted with the responsibility of handling the grievances as well. 

The revolt of 1857, although a failure opened the eyes of the British government. They believed that the revolt took place because of a lack of communication between the colonial government and the Indian authorities. As a measure to curb further uprisings, the British Government came up with the Indian Council Act of 1861 which sought to improve the medium of communications between the colonial government and the Indian authorities. One of the major changes introduced through this act was that the number of additional members in the Governor-General’s council was to be mandatorily not less than six and not more than 12 in numbers. These additional members were to be nominated by the Governor-General itself for a period of two years. One-half of the additional members were supposed to be not from the military or crown service background.  Usually, three Indians were nominated in the council. Furthermore, the governments of Bombay and Madras were restored to power. However, the misuse of the loopholes present in the Indian Council Act of 1861 was identified to a very large extent. The officials nominated the Indians who helped them during the 1857 revolt and often the princes, divans or big landowners were allowed to enter the council. Even after the presented criticisms, the move was celebrated as the step that made the Indians feel that their opinions were valued. 

Indian Councils Act 1892

The introduced Indian Councils Act of 1861 was getting the job done from the eyes of the colonial government. However, the subsequent years following the revolt of 1857 saw a rise of nationalism in the country. The common people living in the country identified the mutual interests and aspirations for the country. The British saw this as a threat to their rule. Meanwhile, the newly formed Indian National Congress demanded the expansion of executive and legislative councils across the country and the inclusion of an increased number of Indians in the council. At the time of the INC constitution, Lord Dufferin was the Governor-General of the country. The INC chased after the government for the inclusion of more Indians into the council. However, the government did not see the educated Indians as the true representatives of the people of India and saw their demands with suspicion. Over time, the colonial Government realised that the rise of nationalism in the country cannot be subsided any further and to safeguard the colonial interest in the country, they’ll have to fulfil the demands of the Indians who were willing to fit into a small and suitable constitutional framework.

The government sought that by introducing few constitutional changes in the country, the educated Indians can be subsided and with this objective, the colonial government introduced the Indian Council Act of 1892. 

Main Features of Indian Council Act 1892

The main features of the introduced Indian Council Act of 1892 are as follows:

• Several features of the new act resembled the previous act of 1861. However, two major changes were introduced in the Indian Council Act of 1892.
• The newly introduced act made it mandatory for the General-Governors council to have not less than 10 and not more than 16 members, which required that one-half of the council should not have the background of military personnel, the candidates chosen should essentially be non-official.
• The demands included a law for the elections. However, the Indian Council Act of 1892 authorised the ruling Governor-General to invite the bodies in India to nominate or elect the council representatives.
• The implementation of the proposed law could have been in the creation of the legislative council in Punjab and Burma. One member was selected on the recommendation made by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce. Usually, the recommended names were always elected to be part of the Governor-General’s council.
• The act emphasised that the members selected to be part of the council were not there as a representative of any Indian body but as a nominee of the Governor-General.
• The elected members were allowed to pass resolutions on the annual financial statements. However, the documents presented were unalterable. In some cases, the members of the provinces were allowed to look at the expenditure and revenue heads of the sectors that were directly under the provincial governments.
• The elected members were allowed to hold discussions on official and internal matters. 

Criticisms of the Indian Council Act 1892

The Indian National Congress heavily criticised the Act of 1892 in its sessions held in the years 1892 and 1893. It was distressed over the fact that direct elections were not being introduced in the country. However, the act highlighted that the mentioned rules are liberal which allowed the nationalist leaders to incorporate their debating and legislative skills and entered the legislatures themselves to represent the voice of several Indians.

Conclusion 

The colonial government introduced the Indian Councils Act of 1892 to subside the efforts of the Indians to rebel against the crown rule. The law empowered the Indian authorities to send their representatives to the councils and make the communication system more transparent.