(a) Why did the British Crown assume direct control over the Indian Government in 1858 ? Mention the new administrative arrangements. (20 marks)

(b) 'Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army awakened an unprecedented sense of national consci

Question

(a) Why did the British Crown assume direct control over the Indian Government in 1858 ? Mention the new administrative arrangements. (20 marks)

(b) 'Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army awakened an unprecedented sense of national consciousness among both the Indian armed forces and masses. Evaluate. (20 marks)

(c) How did the introduction of Community Development Programme and Panchayat Raj Programme promote welfare of rural India ? Explain. (10 marks)

UPSC Answer Check · Accepted Answer

(a) The Crown's takeover of 1858
The revolt of 1857 was the occasion, but the transfer completed a long process.

Why: Parliament had steadily reduced the East India Company to an agent of the state, through the Regulating Act (1773), Pitt's India Act (1784) and the Charter Acts of 1813, 1833 and 1853. The revolt then exposed the Company's failures: an army that had mutinied, poor intelligence, annexations such as Awadh (1856) and the Doctrine of Lapse that alarmed princes and landholders, and policies seen as threats to religion and custom. In Britain, a trading company ruling a vast empire now looked indefensible, and the Crown wished to restore confidence among Indian elites.

New arrangements: the Government of India Act (2 August 1858) ended Company rule and abolished the Court of Directors and the Board of Control. A Secretary of State for India, a Cabinet minister answerable to Parliament (Lord Stanley first), was assisted by a 15-member Council of India. Canning became the Crown's representative, styled Viceroy and Governor-General in the Queen's Proclamation read at Allahabad on 1 November 1858. The Proclamation renounced further annexation, promised to respect princes' rights, religious non-interference and equal eligibility for office, and offered amnesty.

Consolidation followed. The army was reorganised on the Peel Commission's advice (1859), with a higher proportion of European troops and European control of artillery. The Indian Councils Act (1861) introduced the portfolio system and nominated Indian members for legislation, and the Indian Civil Service Act (1861), the Indian Penal Code (1860) and the High Courts Act (1861) standardised administration and law. Thomas Metcalf's Aftermath of Revolt shows much continuity in personnel and methods: the change was in sovereignty and caution more than in the machinery of rule.

(b) Bose, the INA and national consciousness
The claim is largely valid for 1945-46, though the INA's effect was catalytic rather than solitary.

The INA: Mohan Singh formed the first INA in 1942 under Rash Behari Bose's Indian Independence League. After Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in 1943, he revived it and proclaimed the Provisional Government of Azad Hind at Singapore on 21 October 1943, with the slogans "Delhi Chalo" and "Jai Hind" and the women's Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Militarily it failed: the Imphal-Kohima campaign of 1944 collapsed, and it depended on Japan.

The masses: the Red Fort trials from November 1945 of Shah Nawaz Khan, P. K. Sahgal and G. S. Dhillon, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh, united opinion across communities and parties. Bhulabhai Desai, Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru defended them; INA Weeks, funds and demonstrations spread, and Calcutta saw violent clashes in November 1945 and February 1946. The commander-in-chief, Auchinleck, commuted the sentences in January 1946.

The armed forces: for the first time the loyalty of Indian soldiers became doubtful. The Royal Indian Navy mutiny of February 1946 in Bombay and Karachi, and unrest in the air force, showed the INA example at work, and British officials reported that the Indian Army could no longer be relied on.

Evaluation: the consciousness among soldiers was indeed unprecedented. Among the masses, the INA upsurge built on the Quit India movement and Congress organisation, which remained the main political force. Bose and the INA did not win independence militarily, but they helped convince Britain that its hold on India had become untenable.

(c) Community Development and Panchayati Raj
The Community Development Programme (CDP) began on 2 October 1952, drawing on Albert Mayer's Etawah pilot (1948) and Nilokheri. Development blocks were run by a Block Development Officer with Village Level Workers, and the National Extension Service (1953) spread the model. It promoted agricultural extension, minor irrigation, wells, roads, drinking water, schools, health centres and cooperatives. But it became bureaucratic, drew little participation and helped larger farmers most. The Balwantrai Mehta Committee (1957) therefore proposed three-tier democratic decentralisation, and Panchayati Raj was inaugurated at Nagaur, Rajasthan, on 2 October 1959. Elected panchayats gave villagers a say in local works and welfare. Weak funds, irregular elections and elite capture limited them, as the Ashok Mehta Committee (1978) noted, until the 73rd Amendment (1992) gave panchayats constitutional status.

(a) Why did the British Crown assume direct control over the Indian Government in 1858 ? Mention the new administrative…

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