256

INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS

Maximum
strength
of Councils

Official
majority
in Imperial
Council

Non-official
majority in
Provincial
Councils

In addition to the Members specified in the fore-
going part of this Regulation, a second Member shall
be elected at the first, and succeeding alternate ele?
tions by the Mahomedan Members of the class specified
in sub-head (xiii), and at the second, fourth and
succeeding alternate elections, by the class specified in
sub-head (xviii).
Explanation—<Thc expression " alternate elections "
shall not be deemed to include elections to fill casual
vacancies.
46. RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF INDIA, 1909.
(November 15, 1909)
3. The maximum strength of each Council is
fixed by the first schedule of the Act. Excluding the
head of the Government and the members of the
Executive Councils, it varies from 60 for the Council
of the Governor-General, to 30 for the Councils of
the Punjab and Burma, the number for each o£ the
other five Provincial Councils being 50. The actual
strength of each Council is determined by the Regula-
tions. The statutory maximum will at present be
worked up to only in the Imperial and Bengal Councils,
but as will be seen from the annexed statements the
numbers are in every case slightly larger than those
shown in the Despatch of the 1st October 1908.
4. For the reasons given by the Secretary of State
in his Despatch of 27th November, 1908, there will
continue to be a majority of officials in the Governor-
General's Council, but the Regulations provide not only
that there may be, but that there must be, a majority o£
non-official members in every Provincial Council. The
following statement, from which the head of the Govern-
ment is in each case excluded^ shows the effect of this
great constitutional change on the composition of each
Council. It will be within the power of a Local Govern-
raent to increase the non-official majority by nominating
than the maximum number of officials and substi-
taring non-officials, but that majority cannot be reduced