Who was the Father of Local Self-Government in India?

Question

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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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Known for the Doctrine of Lapse and administrative modernisation (railways, telegraph, postal system) as Governor-General (1848–56) — not for local self-government.  (b) 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) 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.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2023 Q18 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q18 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer