Government of India Act of 1858 - Audio Lecture

This Government of India Act of 1858 is also famously known as the Act for the Good Government of India. This Government of India Act of 1858 was enacted in response to the Revolt of 1857 which is also famously known as 'SEPOY MUTINY' or 'FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE'. By this Government of India Act of 1858 the East India Company was abolished and all the powers of the East India Company were fully vested in the British Crown.

# Designation of the Governor General of India was changed to the Viceroy of India and Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India. The Viceroy was the direct representative of the British Crown in India.

# A member of British Cabinet was appointed as the Secretary of  State for India and he was directly responsible to the British Parliament with regard to his administrative functions in India. A 15 member council of advisory nature was formed in order to assist the Secretary of State for India. The Chairman of this 15 member council was the Secretary of State himself.

# The dual scheme of governance consisting of 'COURT OF DIRECTORS' and 'BOARD OF CONTROL' was finished.

# The main objective of Government of India Act of 1858 was to remove the bottlenecks and improve the administrative command of British Rule over India.