For legislative purposes the executive council is enlarged into a
legislative council by the addition of other members, _ex officio_,
nominated and elected. In accordance with regulations made under the
Indian Councils Act 1909, these additional members number 61, making 68 in
all with the viceroy, so arranged as to give an official majority of
three. The only _ex-officio_ additional member is the lieutenant-governor
of the province in which the legislative council may happen to meet;
nominated members number 35, of whom not more than 28 may be officials;
while 25 are elected, directly or indirectly, with special representation
for Mahommedans and landholders. Apart from legislation, the members of
the council enjoy the right to interpellate the government on all matters
of public interest, including the putting of supplementary questions; the
right to move and discuss general resolutions, which, if carried, have
effect only as recommendations; and the right to discuss and criticize in
detail the budget, or annual financial statement.
The local or provincial governments are fifteen in all, with varying
degrees of responsibility. First stand the two presidencies of Madras
(officially Fort St George) and Bombay, each of which is administered by
a governor and council appointed by the crown. The governor is usually
sent from England; the members of council may number four, of whom two
must have served in India for ten years. Next follow the five
lieutenant-governorships of Bengal, the United Provinces of Agra and
Oudh, the Punjab, Burma, and Eastern Bengal and Assam, for each of which
a council may be appointed, beginning with Bengal. Last come the chief
commissionerships, of which the Central Provinces (with Berar) rank
scarcely below the lieutenant-governorships, while the rest--the
North-West Frontier Province, British Baluchistan, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg
and the Andamans--are minor charges, generally associated with political
supervision over native states or frontier tribes. The two presidencies
and also the five lieutenant-governorships each possesses a legislative
council, modelled on that of the governor-general, but so that in every
case there shall be a majority of non-official members, varying from 13
to 3.
Districts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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