UGC NET CBSE CHAPTER - INDIAN CONSTITUTION

 

Framing of the Constitution

 

The thought to have Constitution was given by M.N. Roy (A pioneer of Communist Movement in India).

The present constitution was structured by the Constituent Assembly of India which was setup under Cabinet Mission Plan of May 16, 1946.

 

Composition of Constituent Assembly

 

The Constituent Assembly had 389 members, of which 292 were elected by the elected members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies while 93 members were nominated by the Princely States. A delegate from every four Chief Commissioners Provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Marwaf, Coorg and British Baluchistan was also added.

 

Each Province and each Indian State or group of States were allotted the total number of seats proportional to their respective population  in ratio of one to a million. The seats in each province were distributed among the three main communities - Muslim, Sikh and General, in proportion to their respective populations.

Members of each community in the Provincial Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives by the method of proportional representation with single transferable vote. The method of selection in the case of representatives of Indian States was to be determined by consultation. But when the Muslim League decided to withdraw its members from the Constituent Assembly of India and with the creation of a separate Constituent Assembly for Pakistan on July 16, 1947, the membership of the Constituent Assembly of India was reduced to 299, out of which 229 represented the provinces and 70 were nominated by the Princely states.

 

Drafting Committee        

 

Drafting Committee, had the responsibility of drafting the Constitutional document during the recess of the Constituent Assembly, from July 1947 to Sept 1948, was formed on Aug 29, 1947.

It constitutes the following members:

1.      Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - Chairman

2.      N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar

3.      Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar (a distinguished jurist)

4.      K.M. Munshi (a distinguished jurist)

5.      Syyed Mohd. Saadulla

6.      N. Madhav Rao fin place of B.L. Mitra)

7.      D.P Khaitan (T Krishnamachari, after Khaitan's death in 1948)

 

Functioning of the Constituent Assembly

 

B N Rao was selected as constitutional advisor of the Assembly. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on Dec 9, 1946 with Dr. Sachidan and Sinha as its interim President. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as its President on Dec 11, 1946. The Assembly had 13 committees for framing the constitution.

The important ones were:

Committee	Chairman
Union Power Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Fundamental Rights and Minority Committee	V.B Patel
Provincial Constitution Committee	V.B Patel
Union Constitution Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru
Drafting Committee	B.R Ambedkar
Flag Committee	Jivatram Kripalani
Steering Committee	K.M Munshi

All these Committees submitted their reports, which were widely discussed by the Constituent Assembly.