Administrative Reforms by Congress Ministries

The formation of Congress provincial ministries in July 1937 under the Government of India Act 1935 marked the first major experience of administrative governance for the Indian National Congress. Functioning across eight out of eleven provinces until their resignation in October-November 1939, these ministries transformed executive governance within the constraints of colonial provincial autonomy. Supervised by the Congress Parliamentary Sub-Committee comprising Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the provincial administrations focused on restoring civil liberties, reforming land tenure, regulating industrial relations, and introducing social welfare legislation.

Civil Liberties and Police Reforms

Restoring Political Freedoms

• Ministries repealed emergency ordinances and special security acts enacted during the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Executive orders banned political organizations, youth leagues, and civil society groups were rescinded across all Congress-ruled provinces.
• Securities confiscated from nationalist newspapers and printing presses were refunded, and official blacklists maintained against newspapers were abolished.
• Police surveillance over political leaders was suspended, and intelligence officers were ordered to stop taking notes at public meetings.

Release of Political Prisoners and Property Restoration

• Political prisoners, revolutionaries, and detenus held without trial were released, including Kakori conspirators in the United Provinces and political exiles returning from the Andaman Islands.
• Confiscated lands, seized buildings, and cancelled arms licenses belonging to satyagrahis were restored to their original owners.
• Pensions withheld from political activists and families of freedom fighters were reinstated by provincial orders.
• Despite these measures, ministries faced criticism from left-leaning groups when Section 144 was invoked in Ahmedabad during textile mill strikes, and when socialist leader S.S. Batliwala was arrested in Madras Presidency under sedition provisions.

Agrarian and Land Revenue Reforms

Protection of Tenant Rights

• The United Provinces Tenancy Act of 1939 granted hereditary occupancy rights to tenant farmers and capped arbitrary rent increases by landlords.
• The Bihar Tenancy Amendment Act of 1937 and 1938 reduced land rents, abolished extra-legal cesses, and restored lands (bakasht) lost by tenants during depression-era evictions.
• In the Central Provinces and Berar, the Land Revenue Code was amended to protect small cultivators against summary distraint of crops by moneylenders.

Agricultural Debt Relief and Moneylending

• The Madras Agriculturists Relief Act of 1938 scaled down pre-existing farm debts and fixed maximum interest rates on rural loans.
• Debt Conciliation Boards were established in Bombay, Central Provinces, and Bihar to arbitrate settlement between indebted farmers and private moneylenders.
• The Bombay Small Holders Relief Act prevented the eviction of smallholders for failing to clear loan defaults during crop failures.

Industrial Relations and Labor Welfare

Legislative Measures and Disputes Settlement

• The Bombay Industrial Disputes Act of 1938 made arbitration compulsory prior to declaring strikes or lockouts, aiming to reduce industrial unrest in cotton textile mills.
• Inquiry committees were appointed to evaluate factory conditions, including the Kanpur Labour Inquiry Committee headed by Rajendra Prasad.
• Ministries mandated improvements in factory sanitation, worker safety standards, maternity benefits, and compensation payments for industrial accidents.

Trade Union Recognition and Wage Fixation

• Provincial governments supported basic minimum wage standards in organized manufacturing sectors in Bombay, Kanpur, and Jamshedpur.
• Industrial dispute boards recognized registered trade unions while restricting wildcat strikes, drawing mixed responses from socialist trade union leaders.

Social Reforms and Educational Initiatives

Prohibition and Public Health

• Total prohibition of alcohol was introduced on an experimental basis in designated districts, starting with Salem district in Madras Presidency under C. Rajagopalachari.
• Loss of excise revenue from prohibition was offset by introducing a state sales tax, implemented first in Madras Presidency.
• Public health departments expanded rural dispensaries, sanitation drives, and clean drinking water projects in interior districts.

Temple Entry and Eradication of Untouchability

• The Madras Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act of 1939 granted Scheduled Castes legal access to Hindu temples across the presidency.
• Similar measures were introduced in Malabar and Central Provinces to remove social disabilities regarding access to public wells, schools, and roads.

Educational Development and Wardha Scheme

• The Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (Nai Talim), drafted by the Zakir Hussain Committee in October 1937, was adopted to integrate vocational training with primary instruction.
• Adult literacy campaigns were launched, and state grants were expanded for primary schools in rural areas.
• Official patronage and financial grants were extended to the All India Spinners’ Association (AISA) and the All India Village Industries Association (AIVIA) to generate rural employment.

Overview of Major Reforms Across Provinces

Key Facts for Quick Revision

• Ministerial salaries were voluntarily capped at a maximum of ₹500 per month to promote administrative austerity.
• The Congress Parliamentary Sub-Committee, also called the Parliamentary Board, was led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to ensure policy uniformity across all Congress-ruled provinces.
• Sales tax was introduced in India for the first time by C. Rajagopalachari in Madras Presidency to replace revenue lost due to liquor prohibition.
• A National Planning Committee was established in October 1938 by Congress President Subhash Chandra Bose, chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru, to draft long-term economic policies.
• The Zakir Hussain Committee submitted its report on basic education in December 1937 based on the educational principles outlined by Mahatma Gandhi.
• All Congress provincial ministries resigned in October and November 1939 after Viceroy Lord Linlithgow unilaterally declared India a party to World War II.