Viceroy's Executive Council


The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consisting of five members heading revenue, military, law, finance and home by the Indian Councils Act 1861 giving recognition to the portfolio system introduced by Lord Canning in 1859. In 1874, a sixth member was added to be in charge of public works.

History

The Government of India Act 1858 transferred the power of the East India Company to the British Crown which was empowered to appoint a Viceroy and Governor-General of India to head the government in India. The advisory council of the Governor-General was based in the capital Calcutta and consisted of four members, three of which were appointed by the Secretary of State for India and one by the Sovereign.
The Indian Councils Act 1861 transformed the Viceroy of India's advisory council into a cabinet run on the portfolio system and increased the number of members by one. Three members were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for India, and two by the Sovereign. The five ordinary members took charge of a separate department: home, revenue, military, law and finance. The military Commander-in-Chief sat in with the council as an extraordinary member. The Viceroy was allowed, under the provisions of the Act, to overrule the council on affairs if he deemed it necessary. In 1869, the power to appoint all five members was passed to the Crown and in 1874, a new member was added to be in charge of public works.
The Indian Councils Act 1909 empowered the Governor General to nominate one Indian member to the Executive Council leading to the appointment of Satyendra Prasanna Sinha as the first Indian member. The Government of India Act 1919 increased the number of Indians in the council to three.

Indians in the Council (1909–1940)

On 8 August 1940, the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow made a proposal called the August Offer which expanded the Executive Council to include more Indians. These proposals were rejected by the Indian National Congress, All-India Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha.
However they were revived the next year by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru of the Liberal Party, and accepted by Viceroy who on the 22nd of July 1941 announced a reconstituted Executive Council where for the first time Indians outnumbered Britons.
In addition he announced a 30-member National Defence Council intended to coordinate the war effort between the central government, provincial governments and the princely states.
An attempt was made to maintain communal balance, but Jinnah as part of his effort to establish his position as the sole spokesman of the Indian Muslim community ordered all AIML members to resign from the Viceroy's Executive and National Defence councils as the Viceroy had not accepted his demand for 50% Muslim representation, nor consulted Jinnah on the selection of Muslim members.
On 2 July 1942 the Viceroy’s Council was again enlarged from 12 to 15. Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon appointed Defence member, the first Indian to hold the post. Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar, a Tamil politician and Maharaja Jam Saheb Sri Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji of Jamnagar were appointed to newly elevated positions as representatives of the Government of India to the Imperial War Cabinet in London and to Pacific War Council in Washington DC.
The council now consisted of:
PortfolioNameTenure
Viceroy and Governor-General of IndiaThe Marquess of Linlithgow18 April 1936 – 1 October 1943
Viceroy and Governor-General of IndiaThe Viscount Wavell1 October 1943 – 21 February 1947
Commander-in-Chief, IndiaGeneral Sir Archibald Wavell5 July 1941 – 5 January 1942
Commander-in-Chief, IndiaGeneral Sir Alan Hartley5 January 1942 – 7 March 1942
Commander-in-Chief, IndiaField Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell7 March 1942 – 20 June 1943
Commander-in-Chief, IndiaGeneral Sir Claude Auchinleck20 June 1943 – 21 February 1947
HomeSir Reginald Maxwell1941-1944
HomeSir Robert Francis Mudie1944-1946
FinanceSir Jeremy Raisman1941-1946
DefenceSir Malik Feroz Khan Noon1942-1944
Civil DefenceDr. Edpuganti Raghavendra Rao1941-1942
Civil DefenceSir Jwala Prasad Srivastava1942-1943
LawSir Syed Sultan Ahmed1941-1943
LawAsok Kumar Roy1943-1946
InformationSir Akbar Hydari1941-1942
InformationSir Syed Sultan Ahmed1943-
CommunicationsSir Andrew Clow1941
SupplySir Homi Mody1941-1942
SupplySir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar1943
CommerceSir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar1941
CommerceNalini Ranjan Sarkar1942
Health, Education and LandsNalini Ranjan Sarkar1941
Health, Education and LandsJogendra Singh1942-1946
LabourFeroz Khan Noon1941
LabourB.R. Ambedkar1942-1946
Indians Overseas and Commonwealth RelationsMadhav Shrihari Aney1941-1943
Indians Overseas and Commonwealth RelationsNarayan Bhaskar Khare1943-1946
India's Representative at the British War Cabinet and on the Pacific War CouncilArcot Ramasamy Mudaliar1942-1944
India's Representative at the British War Cabinet and on the Pacific War CouncilFeroz Khan Noon1944-1945
War TransportSir E. C. Benthall1942-1946
Posts and AirMohammad Usman1942-1946
Posts and AirGurunath Venkatesh Bewoor1946
FoodSir Jwala Prasad Srivastava1943-1946
Commerce, industries, civil suppliesMohammad Azizul Huque1943-1945
Post-war ReconstructionArdeshir Dalal1944-1945

Interim Government

As per the mid-June 1946 Cabinet Mission Plan, the Executive Council was expanded to consist of only Indian members except
the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief intended to form the Interim Government of India until the transfer of power. The Viceroy, Viscount Wavell extended invitations for 14 members.
The Interim Government began to function from 2 September 1946 once the Indian National Congress members took their seats. However, the All-India Muslim League refused to participate until 26 October 1946. The Interim Government served until transfer of power to the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan on 15 August 1947.

Members of Interim Government