INSIGHTS IAS

MODERN INDIAN HISTORY

28 months of Congress Ministries

Introduction

The British, after imposing the Act of 1935, decided to immediately put into practice provincial
autonomy, and announced the holding of elections to provincial legislatures in early 1937.
Nationalists were faced with a new political challenge of keeping the national movement active.

Arguments against office acceptance:

Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose, the Congress Socialists and the Communists were totally
opposed to office acceptance and thereby working within the 1935 Act. The Left case was
presented effectively and passionately by Nehru, especially in his Presidential Address at
Lucknow in early 1936.

Firstly, to accept office, was ‘to negate our rejection of it (the 1935 Act) and to stand
self-condemned.’
Secondly, office acceptance would take away the revolutionary character of the movement
imbibed since 1919.

Behind this issue, said Nehru lay the question ‘whether we seek revolutionary changes in India
or (whether we) are working for petty reforms under the aegis of British imperialism.’ Office
acceptance would mean, in practice, ‘a surrender’ before imperialism.

Arguments for office acceptance:

Pro-office acceptance leaders agreed that there were pitfalls involved and that Congressmen in
office could give way to wrong tendencies. But the answer, they said, was to fight these wrong
tendencies and not abandon offices. Moreover, the administrative field should not be left clear to
pro-Government forces.

Even if the Congress rejected office, there were other groups and parties who would readily
form ministries and use them to weaken nationalism and encourage reactionary and communal
policies and politics.

Lastly, despite their limited powers, the provincial ministries could be used to promote
constructive work especially in respect of village and Harijan uplift, khadi, prohibition, education
and reduction of burden of debt, taxes and rent on the peasants.

Congress decided at Lucknow in early 1936 and at Faizpur in late 1936 to fight the elections
and postpone the decision on office acceptance to the post-election period .
To guide and coordinate their activities and to ensure that the British hopes of the
provincialization of the Congress did not materialize, a central control board known as the
Parliamentary Sub-Committee was formed, with Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and
Rajendra Prasad as members.

Congress was now to function both as a government in the provinces and as the opposition
vis-a-vis the Central Government where effective state power lay
The formation of the Ministries by the Congress changed the entire psychological atmosphere in
the country.

Contributions:

1 . Civil Liberties - Practical Taste of Independence:

Commitment to civil liberties was as old as Congress itself
- All emergency powers acquired by the provincial governments during 1932, through
Public Safety Acts and the like, were repealed;
- bans on illegal political organizations such as the Hindustan Seva Dal and Youth
Leagues and on political books and journals were lifted.
- Securities taken from newspapers and presses were refunded and pending prosecutions
were withdrawn.
- In Congress provinces, police powers were curbed and the reporting of public speeches
and the shadowing of political workers by CID agents stopped.
- Thousands of political prisoners were released + many revolutionaries involved in kakori
& other conspiracies released
However, in non congress ruled states, especially in Bengal, civil liberties continued to be
curbed and revolutionary prisoners and detenus, kept for years in prison without trial

2. Welfare Measures:

Peasants issues:

Ministry formation raised the expectations & brought back militancy among peasants & also
brought right wingers in power to take back power from clutches of the socialists

In Bihar,
- Tenancy Legislation was taken up in all the Congress ruled provinces. The Right Wing
did not want to go ahead without negotiations with the landlords & positions varied from
province to province
- In Bihar, Congress signed pact with Zamindars regarding the provisions of the Tenancy
Bill . Rajendra Prasad & Maulana Azad had been instrumental in this
- At this time ban was imposed on Congressmen from participating in Kisan Sabha
activities in Bihar
- Kisan Sabha launched number of movements at regional level to remind congress to
implement Faizpur Agrarian Programme
In UP,
- In UP there was more left leaning leaders . Tenancy Bill was passed but governor didn’t
give assent for two years
- Gave all statutory tenants both in Agra and Oudh full hereditary rights . The rents of
hereditary tenants could be changed only after ten years

In Bombay
- They were able to restore lands to original owners which were confiscated due to no rent
campaign of Congress

In Orissa
- Tenancy bill was passed granting the right of free transfer of occupancy holdings,
reducing the interest on arrears of rent from 12 to 6 per cent and abolishing all illegal
levies on tenants.

Labour reforms:
Congress had promised better working conditions to the working class.

- 1937 : Labour Committee appointed by Congress accepted a programme

● Holidays with pay
● Employment insurance
● Leave with pay during sickness
● To devise a way to fix minimum wage
● Legitimisation of trade unions which pursued policy of peaceful & legitimate means
The formation of popular ministries initially stimulated labour organization and militancy. Trade
union membership went up by 50% in 1938 as compared to 1937, and labour unity was
strengthened by the coming together of the AITUC and the moderate N.F.T.U.

Major industrial disputes of these years included the great general strike in Bengal jute mills, a
series of stoppages in Kanpur cotton mills, textile strikes in Amritsar, Ahmedabad and
particularly in Madras province, the strike in Martin Burn’s Kulti and Hirapur iron and steel works
in 1938, and the bitter six month-long struggle in the Digboi oil works in Assam (April-October
1939).

However, Bombay Province Ministry Introduced Industrial Disputes Bill aim to prevent strikes &
lockouts & crush workers which went on strike

Other constructive works

- Dalit Temple entry allowed by Madras Ministry (led by C Rajagopalachari)

- A vigorous campaign in favour of prohibition of liquor
- Grant of ₹ 2 Lakh for Khadi & Hand spinning in Madras.
- Honorary medical officers to be appointed in Hospitals
- Investment in public buildings to be considerably reduced
 - Declaration of fundamental rights
- Welfare scheme for tribals
- Jail reforms.
- Repeal of Moplah Outrage Act

3. High Moral standards:

Congress Ministers set an example in plain living. They reduced their own salaries drastically
from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 500 per month. They were easily accessible to the common people. And in
a very short time, they did pass a very large amount of ameliorative legislations

4. Real Representation:

Congress won a massive mandate at the polls despite the narrow franchise. It won 711 out of
1,161 seats it contested. It had a majority in most of the provinces. The exceptions were Bengal,
Assam, the NWPF, Punjab and Sind; and in the first three, it was the largest single party
(BANPS).

The Congress also won most scheduled caste seats, except in Bombay where Ambedkar’s
Independent Labour Party captured 13 out of 15 seats reserved for Harijans.

28 months of Congress Ministries

During June, it formed Ministries in six provinces: Madras, Bombay, Central Provinces, Orissa,
Bihar and U.P. Later, Congress Ministries were also formed in the North-West Frontier Province
and Assam

Responsibilities of these ministries were tremendous. However, there were limitations on the
Congress Ministries’ power and financial resources. But, within the narrow limits of their powers,
and the time available to them (their tenure lasted only two years and four months), they did try
to introduce some reforms, take some ameliorative measures, and make some improvement in
the condition of the people — to give the people a glimpse of the future Swaraj.

Challenges to INC ministries:

Results of election showcased evident failure of the Muslim League to make good its claim
to be the sole representative of the Muslims. The League failed to win a single seat in the
N.W.F.P. and could capture only 2 out of 84 reserved constituencies in Punjab and 3 out of 33 in
Sindh. Therefore, adopted a communal stance.

Nearly all the Congress-run states (that is, U.P., Bihar, Bombay, Madras and Assam) had
reactionary second chambers in the form of Legislative Councils, which were elected on a very
narrow franchise — was less than 70 thousand for the second chambers. These were,
therefore, dominated by landlords, capitalists and moneylenders, with the Congress forming a
small minority. Hence, majority in the lower house was not enough in order to get any legislation
passed .

There was malicious propaganda set out by communal parties & accused congress of
discrimination against minorities.

Many opportunists entered congress during this period in order to take advantage of office

Gandhi & Congressmen were well known to this situation & wrote about this in Harijan
Congress itself began to lose its popularity as indicated in the drastic fall in its membership, from
4.5 million in 1938-39 to 1.4 million in 1940-41