Charter act of 1853 UPSC short notes
Here we will study Charter act of 1853 (UPSC) from the perspective of Civil services exam and other State PSC exams. This act was passed by British Parliament in 1853. The most important point of this act is that it introduced legislation as a separate work of government.
Here we will cover the important point of Charter act of 1853 which will be useful for your UPSC exams and other State PSC exams.
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Main features of Charter act 1853 (UPSC)-
Charter act of 1853 (UPSC) established a separate Governor general’s Legislative Council called as Indian Legislative Council. The Governor general during Charter act of 1853 was Lord Dalhousie. Now let’s study this act in detail. Some of the main features of Charter act of 1853 are-
- It first time separated the legislative and executive functions of the Governor general’s Council.
- For legislative purpose it established a separate Governor generals Legislative Council called as Indian Legislative Council.
This Legislative Council had 6 members called legislative councilors. It functioned as Mini Parliament and adopted the same procedures as the British Parliament.
- Charter act of 1853 for the first time treated legislation as specialized work of government. But it had its own weaknesses as for the promulgation of any law assent of governor general was needed.
- Governor general had powers to Veto any bill of Legislative Council.
- It also introduced open competition for selection and recruitment of Civil servants. So now Indians could also participate in Civil services exam. Accordingly it appointed Macaulay committee (the committee on Indian civil services) in 1854.
- It extended companies rule and allowed it to control Indian territories in trust for British crown without specifying any particular period. So it indicated that company’s rule could be ended anytime.
- It also introduced local representation in Indian Legislative Council for the first time.
- Out of 6 members of Indian Legislative Council, 4 were appointed by local governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra.
These are the Main features of Charter act of 1853. These points are very important from the viewpoint of our UPSC and other state PSC exams.
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