INDIAN INDEPENDENCE STRUGGLE GOVT OF INDIA ACT, 1919 December 05, 1919:   GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1919 was passed by the House of Commons - Also known as Montague Chelmsford Reforms, was passed by the House of Commons. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, and the Viceroy, Frederic Thesiger.