Which of the following Acts introduced ‘provincial autonomy’ by discontinuing the application of dyarchy?

Correct — D. The Government of India Act, 1935 abolished dyarchy in the provinces and put provincial autonomy in its place.

Dyarchy was the split of provincial subjects into 'transferred' and 'reserved' halves, introduced in 1919. The 1935 Act ended that split and made the whole provincial list answerable to ministers responsible to elected legislatures.

It then moved dyarchy upward, proposing it at the Centre. Option (d) is the Act that made both changes.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Charter Act of 1813 — The Charter Act of 1813 ended the East India Company's trade monopoly in India and opened the country to missionaries. It is commercial company-era law, long before provincial ministries existed.
• (b)
  Government of India Act, 1919 — The 1919 Act introduced dyarchy rather than ending it. Those Montagu-Chelmsford reforms created the transferred and reserved lists that the 1935 Act later undid.
• (c)
  India Council Act, 1909 — Option (c), printed as the 'India Council Act, 1909', is the Indian Councils Act of the Morley-Minto reforms. It enlarged the legislative councils and brought in separate electorates, leaving provincial executives untouched.

The colonial constitutional Acts form a chain, and each is remembered by the single device it introduced or removed.

1919, the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, brought dyarchy to the provinces: some subjects transferred to Indian ministers, the rest reserved for the Governor.

1935 ended that arrangement. It gave the provinces autonomy under ministries responsible to elected legislatures, and proposed an All-India Federation with dyarchy at the Centre.

The 1935 Act is also the single largest source of borrowed material in the Constitution of India, which is why SSC keeps returning to it.

Key facts

• The Government of India Act, 1935 abolished provincial dyarchy and introduced provincial autonomy.
• Dyarchy in the provinces had been introduced by the Government of India Act, 1919.
• The 1935 Act proposed an All-India Federation that was never established.
• Provincial ministries under the 1935 Act took office after the 1937 elections.

Common traps

• Swapping 1919 and 1935 — one introduced provincial dyarchy, the other removed it.
• Forgetting that 1935 shifted dyarchy to the Centre while ending it in the provinces.
• Reading 'provincial autonomy' as independence rather than responsible government under a Governor.

No directly related past PYQ was found.