Congress Rule in Provinces

1.Gandhi's Advice

• Provinces with Congress MinistriesImportance 4/5UPSC 1996, 2005
  In which provinces did the Congress form ministries? Remember the first six, and the two that joined them later.
• Gandhi's Advice on Holding OfficeImportance 3/5
  How did Gandhi want Congressmen to treat office? Remember his well-known phrases on how to hold it and what office would be like. Understand why he wanted it used in a way the British did not expect. What did he want Congress to prove about ruling with as little help as possible from the police and the Army?

2.Work Under Congress Ministries

• Popular Response and Basic Limitations of the MinistriesImportance 3/5
  What did office gain the Congress, and what could it not change? Understand the popular response and the rise in Congress prestige. Be clear about the basic limits on what provincial ministries could do. Remember how long the ministries ruled.
• Easing of Curbs on Civil LibertiesImportance 3/5
  Understand how the ministries eased curbs on civil liberties. Remember the main kinds of relief: emergency laws, bans on organisations (such as the Hindustan Seva Dal and Youth Leagues), books, journals and the press, police and CID powers, prisoners and deportation orders, and, in Bombay, the restoring of lands linked to the Civil Disobedience Movement, along with pensions.
• Blemishes in the Civil Liberties RecordImportance 2/5
  Where did the ministries fall short on civil liberties? Remember the socialists arrested by the Madras government, and the Bombay minister who used the CID against leftists.
• Constraints on Agrarian ReformImportance 3/5
  Why could the ministries not abolish zamindari completely? You should be able to explain the seven constraints. Also understand why the Legislative Councils had to be handled with care.
• Agrarian Legislation and Its BeneficiariesImportance 3/5
  Remember the fields in which the ministries passed agrarian laws (land reforms, debt relief, forest grazing fee, rent arrears, tenures). Who gained among the different kinds of tenants, and who did not? Understand why agricultural labourers missed out.
• Labour Policy and Industrial PeaceImportance 3/5
  What two aims did the ministries try to balance in their labour policy? Understand how they tried to reach them, and remember the methods used (compulsory arbitration before a strike, conciliation machinery, mediation, wage increases).
• Handling of Militant Labour Protests (Nehru and Gandhi)Importance 2/5
  How did the ministries treat militant trade union protests? Remember their methods, and where the approach worked less well. Be clear about Nehru's private and public positions, and about Gandhi's concerns on violence, the Congress base and the use of colonial laws.
• Social Welfare MeasuresImportance 3/5
  Remember the main welfare areas the ministries worked on: prohibition, Harijan welfare (temple entry, public facilities, scholarships, jobs), education and public health, khadi, prison reform and indigenous enterprise.
• National Planning Committee (1938)Importance 4/5
  Who set up the Committee as Congress president, and who chaired it? Are they the same person? Understand how it fits the Congress effort to develop planning.
• Mass Activity Outside the LegislaturesImportance 2/5
  What did the Congress do outside the legislatures? Remember the main kinds of activity, including its own police stations and panchayats, the Grievance Committees, and the states peoples' movements.

3.Evaluation

• Significance of the 28-Month Congress RuleImportance 3/5
  What did the Congress rule achieve, and how far did it fall short? Be able to explain the gains claimed for it: self-government and social change, state power without co-option, the weakened myth of Indian unfitness to rule, control of communal riots, lower morale of the bureaucracy, and the neutralising of old opponents such as landlords. Understand the weaknesses visible by 1939.
• Resignation of the Congress Ministries (1939)Importance 4/5UPSC 2008
  Why did the outbreak of the Second World War lead the ministries to resign? Understand how India was brought into the war and what the Congress objected to. Remember the month of the resignations.
• Labour Unrest and the Bombay Industrial Disputes Act (1938)Importance 2/5
  Why did the Congress seem to turn against labour? Understand how the election victory raised workers' hopes, where unrest broke out, and how Congress's closeness to capitalists mattered. Remember the 1938 Bombay law that this shift led to, and what it required before a strike.
• Dilemma Over the Princely States (Praja Mandal Movements)Importance 3/5UPSC 2001
  What was the Congress leadership unsure about in the princely states? Understand the question it faced over the Praja Mandal movements for democracy.
• Muslim League's Pirpur Committee (1938)Importance 3/5
  Why did the Muslim League set up the Pirpur Committee? Understand the League's grievance against the Congress. Remember the four kinds of charge in its report.

1. 1.

   Consider the following provinces:
   1. Bombay
   2. Punjab
   3. Orissa
   4. Bengal
   In how many of the above were Congress ministries formed after the 1937 elections?

   1. AOnly one
   2. BOnly two
   3. COnly three
   4. DAll four
2. 2.

   Consider the following statements about the Congress ministries and civil liberties:
   1. Laws giving emergency powers were repealed.
   2. The CID stopped shadowing politicians.
   3. Confiscated arms and arms licences were restored.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. A1 only
   2. B1 and 2 only
   3. C2 and 3 only
   4. D1, 2 and 3
3. 3.

   Consider the following statements about the record of the Congress ministries on civil liberties:
   1. Yusuf Meherally was arrested by the Madras government for inflammatory speeches.
   2. The Bombay home minister used the CID against communists and leftists.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. A1 only
   2. B2 only
   3. CBoth 1 and 2
   4. DNeither 1 nor 2
4. 4.

   Consider the following:
   1. Inadequate powers of the ministries
   2. Inadequate financial resources
   3. The need to conciliate landlord-dominated second chambers
   4. War clouds from around 1938
   How many of the above prevented the Congress ministries from completely overhauling the agrarian structure?

   1. AOnly one
   2. BOnly two
   3. COnly three
   4. DAll four
5. 5.

   Consider the following statements about the agrarian legislation of the Congress ministries:
   1. Most benefits went to statutory and occupancy tenants.
   2. Sub-tenants gained substantially.
   3. Agricultural labourers did not benefit, as they had not been mobilised.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. A1 and 3 only
   2. B1 only
   3. C2 and 3 only
   4. D1, 2 and 3
6. 6.

   Consider the following statements:
   Statement-I: The Congress ministries could not completely abolish zamindari.
   Statement-II: Landlord-dominated second chambers in several provinces had to be conciliated, as their support was necessary for legislation.
   Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

   1. ABoth Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
   2. BBoth Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
   3. CStatement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
   4. DStatement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
7. 7.

   Consider the following statements about the attitude of the Congress ministries towards labour:
   1. They advocated compulsory arbitration before striking.
   2. They treated militant trade union protests as law and order problems.
   3. This approach was fully successful in Bombay.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. A1 only
   2. B2 and 3 only
   3. C1 and 2 only
   4. D1, 2 and 3
8. 8.

   Consider the following:
   1. Prohibition in certain areas
   2. Temple entry and scholarships for Harijans
   3. Prison reforms
   4. Subsidies for khadi
   How many of the above were among the social welfare measures of the Congress ministries?

   1. AOnly one
   2. BOnly two
   3. COnly three
   4. DAll four
9. 9.

   Consider the following statements about the extra-parliamentary activity of the Congress during its provincial rule:
   1. It launched mass literacy campaigns.
   2. It set up Congress police stations and panchayats.
   3. Congress Grievance Committees presented mass petitions to the government.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. A1 and 2 only
   2. B2 and 3 only
   3. C1 and 3 only
   4. D1, 2 and 3
10. 10.

    Consider the following statements about the significance of the 28-month Congress rule:
    1. It confirmed that Indian self-government was necessary for radical social transformation.
    2. It raised the morale of the bureaucracy.
    3. It weakened the myth that Indians were not fit to rule.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. A1 only
    2. B2 and 3 only
    3. C1 and 3 only
    4. D1, 2 and 3
11. 11.

    Consider the following statements about the Pirpur Committee report:
    1. It charged the Congress with interfering in religious rites.
    2. It alleged suppression of Urdu in favour of Hindi.
    3. It was commissioned by the Congress to review its own ministries.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. A1 only
    2. B1 and 2 only
    3. C2 and 3 only
    4. D1, 2 and 3
12. 12.

    Gandhi urged Congressmen in office to prove that the Congress could rule

    1. Aby passing the maximum number of laws
    2. Bwith the least assistance from the police and the Army
    3. Cwithout consulting the governors
    4. Dby abolishing all provincial taxes
13. 13.

    Consider the following statements about the Congress ministries of 1937–39:
    1. Through their administration, they could not change the basic imperialist character of the system.
    2. They could not introduce a radical era.
    3. They could not lift press restrictions.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. A1 and 2 only
    2. B1 only
    3. C2 and 3 only
    4. D1, 2 and 3
14. 14.

    Consider the following statements about the Congress leaders' response to the ministries' labour policy:
    1. Nehru was unhappy about the repressive measures but publicly supported the ministries.
    2. Gandhi appealed to Congressmen against frequent resort to colonial laws and machinery.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. A1 only
    2. B2 only
    3. CBoth 1 and 2
    4. DNeither 1 nor 2
15. 15.

    Increased industrial unrest after the 1937 Congress victory led to which of the following, seen as an anti-labour shift in Congress attitudes?

    1. AThe Bombay Industrial Disputes Act
    2. BThe Bombay Agricultural Debtors Relief Act
    3. CThe Bombay Primary Education Act
    4. DThe Bombay Prohibition Act

1. 1.

   UPSC 2008

   Assertion (A): The Congress Ministries in all the provinces resigned in the year 1939. Reason (R): The Congress did not accept the decision of the Viceroy to declare war against Germany in the context of the Second World War.

   1. ABoth A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
   2. BBoth A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A
   3. CA is true but R is false
   4. DA is false but R is true
2. 2.

   UPSC 2005

   In which one of the following provinces was a Congress Ministry not formed under the Act of 1935?

   1. ABihar
   2. BMadras
   3. COrissa
   4. DPunjab
3. 3.

   UPSC 2001

   Who among the following was the President of the All-India States’ Peoples’ Conference in 1939?

   1. AJaya Prakash Narayan
   2. BJawaharlal Nehru
   3. CSheikh Abdullah
   4. DSardar Vallabhbhai Patel
4. 4.

   UPSC 1996

   Consider the following statements about Jawaharlal Nehru:
   I. He was the President of the Congress Party in 1947.
   II. He presided over the Constituent Assembly.
   III. He formed the first Congress Ministry in United Province before India’s independence. Of these statements

   1. AI, II and III are correct
   2. BI and III are correct
   3. CI and II are correct
   4. DNone is correct