MPPSC 2023 Prelims Paper-I · Question 18 of 100

Correct — D, Lord Ripon. As Viceroy of India (1880–1884), Lord Ripon issued the Resolution on Local Self-Government of 1882, recommending elected non-official majorities in municipal and district boards. It is often called the 'Magna Carta' of local self-government in India, earning him the title Father of Local Self-Government.

• (a)Lord Dalhousie — Known for the Doctrine of Lapse and administrative modernisation (railways, telegraph, postal system) as Governor-General (1848–56) — not for local self-government.
• (b)Lord Mountbatten — The last Viceroy of India, who oversaw Partition and Independence in 1947 — a much later figure, unrelated to the 1882 local self-government reform.
• (c)Lord Macaulay — Known for his 1835 Minute on Education, which introduced English-medium education in India, and for drafting the Indian Penal Code — not local self-government.

Lord Ripon's 1882 Resolution on Local Self-Government recommended handing over local affairs — roads, sanitation, primary education — to municipal and district boards with elected non-official chairmen and an elected majority. Though implemented unevenly across provinces, it planted the institutional idea that later resurfaced in the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935, and was finally given constitutional status by the 73rd and 74th Amendments in 1992.

The trap is confusing Ripon (1882, local self-government) with Lord Mayo, whose 1870 resolution on financial decentralisation to the provinces is often seen as a precursor. Lock the specific title: Ripon = Father of Local Self-Government.

• Lord Ripon was Viceroy of India from 1880 to 1884
• His 1882 Resolution on Local Self-Government is called the 'Magna Carta' of local government in India
• It recommended elected non-official majorities in municipal and district boards
• Ripon also repealed the repressive Vernacular Press Act, 1878

• Confusing Lord Ripon (1882 local self-government) with Lord Mayo (1870 financial decentralisation)
• Mixing up Ripon with later Viceroys associated with unrelated reforms

Almost always phrased directly as 'who is called Father/Founder of Local Self-Government in India' — lock Ripon to 1882.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The 1882 Resolution on Local Self-Government, often called the 'Magna Carta' of local government in India, was issued by:

  • (a)Lord Curzon
  • (b)Lord Ripon
  • (c)Lord Lytton
  • (d)Lord Canning

  Answer(b) Lord Ripon.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which Viceroy's 1870 resolution on financial decentralisation to the provinces is regarded as a precursor to local self-government, and is often confused with Ripon's 1882 reform?

  • (a)Lord Ripon
  • (b)Lord Mayo
  • (c)Lord Canning
  • (d)Lord Curzon

  Answer(b) Lord Mayo.