With reference to the Government of India Act, 1935, consider the following statements:

1. It provided for the establishment of an All India Federation based on the union of the British Indian Provinces and Princely States.

2. Defence and Foreign Affairs were kept under the control of the federal legislature.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024: General Studies Official Paper

Answer 1

The correct answer is Option 1

Key Points

The Government of India Act, 1935 indeed provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation.
- The federation was to include both British Indian provinces and the Princely States.
- However, the actual establishment of this federation was conditional upon a specified number of princely states agreeing to join, which ultimately did not happen, so the federation was never formed. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.
Under The Government of India Act, 1935, subjects to be administered were divided into reserved and transferred subjects.
- Reserved subjects—foreign affairs, defense, tribal areas and ecclesiastical affairs which were to be exclusively administered by the governor-general and not the federal legislature on the advice of executive councilors. Hence, Statement 2 is incorrect.