Q. During the reign of Lord Ripon, a government resolution on local bodies was issued in 1882, which is considered a very important step in the direction of local self-government. Which of the following was/were among the objects of the above mentioned resolution?

1. Local affairs were to be largely governed by the local urban and rural bodies.
2. A majority of the members of local bodies should be non-officials.
3. Wherever possible, majority of the members should be elected and not selected.
4. The chairpersons of the local bodies had to be official members only.

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
Answer: Only 1, 2, and 3
Notes: A step forward in the direction of setting up democratic local government was taken by the Lord Ripon government in 1882. A government resolution laid down the policy of administering local affairs largely through rural and urban local bodies, a majority of whose members would be non-officials. Those non-official members would be elected by the people whenever and wherever officials felt that it was possible to introduce elections. The resolution also permitted the election of a non-official as Chairman of a local body. So, only statement 4 is incorrect. Provincial acts were passed to implement this resolution. The provisions of this resolution were haltingly and fractionally implemented.

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