BharatNotes Dyarchy
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
The dyarchy instituted by the Government of India Act of 1919 proved largely unworkable, for vesting Indian ministers with responsibility for "transferred" subjects while withholding control over finance and the police hollowed out their authority and deepened nationalist demand for full responsible government.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
dyarchic (adj), dyarchical (adj), diarchy (n), dyarchies (n pl)
Root
Greek di- = two + -archia = rule, government; literally "rule by two"; sometimes spelled diarchy
Etymology
From Greek di- ("two") + -archia ("rule, government"), literally "rule by two"; sometimes spelled "diarchy."
Memory Hook
"Di/Dy = two" (as in dioxide, dual) + "-archy = rule" (as in monarchy): dyarchy is literally rule by two. Picture two captains steering one ship at once.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
Dual government in which subjects are split between ministers responsible to a legislature and an executive answerable elsewhere. Under the Government of India Act, 1919 provincial subjects were divided into transferred subjects such as education, health, local self-government and agriculture, administered by Indian ministers responsible to the legislature, and reserved subjects such as finance, police, land revenue and justice, retained by the Governor and his executive council answerable only to the Secretary of State. The design failed for a reason worth stating precisely: finance was reserved, so ministers carried responsibility for nation-building departments without control of the money required to run them, and the Governor could in any case override them. The Government of India Act, 1935 abolished dyarchy in the provinces and substituted provincial autonomy, which came into force in 1937, while introducing dyarchy at the Centre instead, and that central dyarchy never came into operation at all because the federation on which it depended was never established.
Don’t Confuse It With
Dyarchy divides subjects so that some are administered by responsible ministers and others by an irresponsible executive; it operated in the provinces from 1919 and was designed for the Centre in 1935 but never came into force there. Provincial autonomy under the 1935 Act replaced it, giving ministers full charge of provincial subjects subject to the Governor's discretionary powers. Transferred subjects lay with ministers and reserved subjects with the Governor. Responsible government means an executive answerable to an elected legislature, which dyarchy conceded only partially and by design.
Hindi Meaning
द्वैध शासन (dvaidh shāsan); हस्तांतरित (hastāntarit) and आरक्षित (ārakshit) for transferred and reserved.
Common Questions
- Why did dyarchy fail?
- Because finance and the police were reserved to the Governor, so Indian ministers held responsibility for their departments without the money or authority to run them, and could be overridden in any case.
- What happened to dyarchy under the 1935 Act?
- It was abolished in the provinces and replaced by provincial autonomy from 1937, while a new dyarchy designed for the Centre never came into operation because the federation was never formed.
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