Indian Delimitation Committee

The task of the Indian Delimitation Committee was to prepare a complete scheme of delimitation of the constituencies in the legislatures to be established under the provisions of the Government of India Act 1935. Because it attracted the support of a large element of British India, the British Government, and the Indian princes, an all-India federation seemed to be the solution to India's constitutional problems. It seemed the ideal compromise between Congress demands for complete independence and the imperialists' determination not to concede too much freedom. The first session of the Round Table Conference concentrated upon considering the organisation and powers of a federal authority and Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald closed the Conference on 19 January 1931 with a pledge of central responsibility with safeguards. It enabled the Indian Liberals to return home with the claim that they had extracted a promise of Dominion status. To the British Government an all-India federation presented an opportunity to make a show of yielding responsibility while retaining the realities of British control. There was a collapse of consultation at the second session of the Conference. The British Government had hardened its attitude towards freedom, the princes were divided over the powers of the federal authority, and there was no solution to the communal problem which would satisfy the Muslims. But plans still went ahead for all-India federation in two stages, first to provincial autonomy without changing the central government and then later to federation, and three expert committees of inquiry were sent to India to sort out the problems involved. At the third session of the Conference Lord Chancellor Sankey presented his bill embodying proposals for a Federal Constitution, and discussions centred on the states question and the distribution of powers between the central government and the provinces. It achieved little by way of agreed solutions to outstanding constitutional problems, but it cleared the way for the preliminary stages of Parliamentary legislation. The Government prepared a white paper on its proposals for presentation to Parliament, leading to a bill which became the Government of India Act of 1935. The act provided for the establishment of a Federation of Governors' provinces and Indian states, with dyarchy at the Centre and responsible governments in the provinces. For the purposes of dividing the whole administration into federal and provincial spheres, legislative powers were re-divided into Federal and Provincial Lists. Entry into the federation was binding for the provinces and voluntary for the states. The executive authority of the federation was to be exercised on behalf of the King by the Governor-General (a role taken by the Viceroy) and a Council of Ministers appointed by himself. The Federal Legislature consisted of the King (represented by the Governor-General) and two chambers - the Council of State and the Federal Assembly. The Council of State consisted of 156 representatives of British India and 104 of the Indian states, while the Federal Assembly had 250 and 125 respectively. In both chambers the representatives of British India were distributed according to community and interest, so that Muslims, Sikhs end even women had separate electorates. The act provided for eleven Governors' provinces (Madras, Bengal, Bombay, United Provinces, Punjab, Bihar, Central Provinces and Berar, Assam, North West Frontier Province, Orissa, Sind) and Burma ceased to be a part of India. Executive authority in each province was exercised for the Crown by the Governor, with a Council of Ministers, and each Provincial Legislature consisted of the King, represented by the Governor, and one or two chambers, depending upon the size of the province. Seats were distributed according to community and interest. The division of federal and provincial authority gave the provinces a position from which they could operate independently of the Centre within their given spheres. This provincial autonomy was historically necessary, but it did not signify any real weakening of the Centre, and the Governor- General could direct any Governor in matters relating to defence and other reserved subjects. Indeed, the exercise of the executive authority of any province was in no way to impede or prejudice the executive authority of the federation. Guided by the Marquess of Zetland, Secretary of State for India, the British Government looked to the Indian Delimitation Committee for a complete scheme of delimitation for the territorial constituencies by which members were to be elected to the Federal and Provincial Legislatures. They also asked for proposals on the nature and location of the constituencies which were to be established for the return of special interests - women, scheduled castes etc. Progress and procedure:. The Committee consisted of three members: Sir Laurie Hammond, a former Governor of Assam, Chairman Sir Mutta Venkatasubba Rao, Judge of the Madras High Court, Khan Bahadur Din Muhammad, Judge of the Lahore High Court, with John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office as Secretary. The Chairman arrived in Bombay on 26 September 1935 and the Committee held their first meeting at Simla on 30 September. They made a preliminary review of the main problems and of material received from the various provincial governments, which had been asked to make initial investigations with the assistance of representative committees. The latter were largely composed of members of the provincial legislatures and of representatives of special interests, while Provincial Delimitation or Advisory Committees had been established in each province to assist them. From Simla the Committee proceeded on a tour of every province, which lasted until 24 December. They found available to them a mass of material representing the results of provisional investigations by the local governments. In addition there were, for most provinces, reports of debates in the provincial legislatures on proposals to be submitted for consideration. The Committee discussed the local situation in detail with each Provincial Committee before hearing public evidence. The Provincial Committees were well qualified to give advice, and their invaluable preparations enabled the Committee to compress their enquiries into a short period and so meet the British demand for speed. The Report was published in January 1936, and the investigations brought home forcibly the radical differences in conditions in the various provinces plus the importance of giving the fullest weight to local feeling both in the details of the administrations and in the election of members to the legislatures - hence the impracticality of any uniform principle. Debates in Parliament on the Government of India bill gave prominence to the difficulties inherent in laying down principles applicable to all the provinces. The Government of Burma took advantage of the Committee's presence in India to obtain the benefit of their advice on proposals for the delimitation of constituencies in Burma and related questions. Hammond, therefore, visited Rangoon 5-12 November 1935 and recommendations for a complete scheme for the delimitation of constituencies in Burma were submitted to the British Government.

In addition to material directly connected with the preparation and printing of the Committee's Report, the collection consists of correspondence between the Committee and the provincial authorities, and the written and oral evidence of special interests in the form of notes, memoranda and reports. Also included are a large number of publications dealing with the rules and regulations of various commercial and trade associations throughout India, maps and statistical tables. Most of the material was found to be already organised in the form of reasonably coherent (but un-numbered) files relating to particular provinces, types of record or subject, although there were also a number of very miscellaneous files/bundles and loose items. In the case of the main series of Provincial Files (IOR/Q/IDC/1-35) the arrangement adopted follows a regular pattern as far as possible. That is to say, where the basic types of record for a province are kept on distinct files, the files for that province are listed in the following order:[a] Proposals of and correspondence with the Local Government; [b] Rules of various trade unions, associations, chambers of commerce etc; [c] Representations and related correspondence; [d] Papers relating to the Committee's programme; [e] Records of meetings with the Local Government and conclusions of the Committee; [f] Draft sections of the Committee's report; . It will be noticed that inset under each of these basic file headings is a list of separate reports, publications and other documents (usually printed) included in the file. Finally, in the case of files or bundles of a more heterogeneous character (eg IOR/Q/IDC/46-51) the main items or groups of related items are briefly described according to their physical position within the original file or bundle. Some documents appearing in the more regular provincial and subject files are duplicated in the later miscellaneous files.

Unrestricted

Official:. Public and Judicial Department Papers (IOR/L/PJ). These records, which contain the main files of official India Office correspondence and minuting relating to the Indian Delimitation Committee, are divided into two series: 1) IOR/L/PJ/7 Public and Judicial Department Files 1930-1950. Relevant material may be traced through annual registers and indexes for 1935-36, see IOR/Z/L/PJ/7/6-7. 2) IOR/L/PJ/9 Public and Judicial (Reforms) Files 1930-41 see IOR/Z/L/PJ/9/3-4 for comprehensive register and index. Private Office Collection (IOR/L/PO). There are no complete files dealing specifically with the Indian Delimitation Committee but some connected material may be traced in the files included in the List of Private Office Papers under the headings 'Constitutional Questions' and 'Constitution'. Private Papers:. See India Office Records: Accessions of Private Collections 1937-1974 for details of all the main collections of provincial governors and other officials likely to contain relevant material. The following are particularly important: 1) Templewood Collection (Mss Eur E240): Papers of Sir Samuel Hoare (later 1st Viscount Templewood) as Secretary of State for India 1931-35. 2) Zetland Collection (Mss Eur D609): Papers, dated 1911-52, of the 2nd Marquess of Zetland, Secretary of State for India 1935-40. Official Publications:. A great deal of the official material produced for and by the IDC is available in published form together with selections from the non-official evidence submitted.Report of the Indian Delimitation Committee Vol I, Parliamentary Papers (HoC) 1935-36, ix, 5099, see IOR/V/4/SESSION 1935-36 VOL 9; Proposals for the delimitation of constituencies Vol II, Parliamentary Papers (HoC) 1935-36, ix, 5100, see IOR/V/4/SESSION 1935-36 VOL 9; Selections from evidence Vol III (London, HMSO, 1936), see IOR/V/26/261/51; Report on Burma by Sir Laurie Hammond, Parliamentary Papers (HoC) 1935-36, ix, 5101; Proceedings and proposals of Provincial Government Committees, 1933-35 [Volumes of this type, published by the various provincial governments, are available for all provinces except the United Provinces and the North West Frontier Province.]; .