Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- It established a Board of Control to oversee the political affairs of the East India Company.
- It placed the commercial affairs of the Company under the Court of Directors.
- It subordinated the Governor-General of Bengal to the Governors of Bombay and Madras in all matters.
Statements 1 and 2 are correct — the Act created a Board of Control in London to supervise the Company's political and civil affairs (responsible to the British Parliament), while the Court of Directors retained the commercial functions, setting up the famous system of double government. Statement 3 is incorrect because the Act did the opposite: it made the Governor-General of Bengal superior to the Governors of Bombay and Madras in matters of war, diplomacy and revenue, strengthening centralisation.
Option (c) is correct — the Charter Act of 1853 opened Indian Civil Service recruitment through open competitive examination, ending the earlier nomination/patronage system, though in practice it stayed largely inaccessible to Indians due to age limits and the exam being held only in England. Option (a) is wrong because the Act broke from precedent by allowing Company rule to continue only until Parliament decided otherwise, rather than for a fixed 20-year term; option (b) is imprecise since the Act actually created a separate Legislative Council with six additional members, making (c) the most complete answer; and option (d) is wrong because the Court of Directors' strength was reduced from twenty-four to eighteen.
- Lord Mayo — First census of India and creation of provincial Finance system
- Lord Lytton — Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act
- Lord Ripon — Ilbert Bill controversy and Factory Act
- Lord Curzon — Ancient Monuments Preservation Act
All four pairs are correctly matched. Lord Mayo decentralised finances through fixed provincial grants and oversaw the first regular census in 1872; Lord Lytton introduced the repressive Vernacular Press Act (1878) and the Arms Act (1878); Lord Ripon's tenure saw the Ilbert Bill controversy (1883) and the Factory Act (1881); and Lord Curzon passed the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (1904), reflecting his strong interest in archaeology and conservation.
- The Act introduced the principle of election to the Legislative Councils for the first time.
- The Act expanded the size of the Legislative Councils and granted them the power to discuss the budget.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the 1892 Act did not introduce direct election; it allowed only limited, indirect nomination based on recommendations from bodies such as universities, district boards and chambers of commerce, with direct election in limited communal form arriving only with the 1909 Act. Statement 2 is correct — the Act enlarged the Legislative Councils and empowered members to discuss the budget and put questions to the executive, a modest but real step toward representative governance.
Option (c) is correct — the 1909 Act introduced separate communal electorates for Muslims, widely seen as the formal institutionalisation of communal politics, partly a consequence of the Simla Deputation (1906). Option (a) is wrong as the franchise was narrow and based on property, income and education, with universal adult franchise reached only in 1950; option (b) is wrong because Dyarchy with transferred and reserved subjects came under the Government of India Act, 1919; and option (d) is wrong because the bicameral central legislature was also a creation of the 1919 Act.
