Indian Constitution FramersA detailed explanation

-Created by Tanay Kapadia

Introduction

• Indian constitution was formed on 26’th November 1949 and was brought into use on 26’th January 1950

• It was framed by a Drafting committee which was formed on 29 August 1947 with B.R. Ambedkar as a chairman

Constituent Assembly

The Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies.

Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Kanaiyalal Munshi, Purushottam Mavalankar, Sandipkumar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, and Balwantrai Mehta were some important figures in the Assembly.

There were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi.

The first temporary 2-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachchidananda Sinha. Later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.[24] The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946.

More about Constituent Assembly

An idea for a Constituent Assembly of India was proposed in 1934 by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the Communist movement in India and an advocate of radical democracy.

It became an official demand of the Indian National Congress in 1935, and was accepted by the British in August 1940.

On 8 August 1940, a statement was made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow about the expansion of the Governor-General's Executive Council and the establishment of a War Advisory Council. This offer, known as the August Offer, included giving full weight to minority opinions and allowing Indians to draft their own constitution.

The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the provincial assemblies by a single, transferable-vote system of proportional representation.

Drafting Committee

• On the 14 August 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was presented. Such committees included a Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee.

• On 29 August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members assisted by a constitutional advisor. These members were-

i. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pantii. K M Munshiiii. Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyeriv. N Gopalaswami Ayengarv. Md. Saadullah vi. D P Khaitan

Working of Constituent Assembly

• The manner in which the Constituent Assembly arrived at decisions was that of consensus defined by Austin as manner of making decision by unanimity or near unanimity.

• An effort was made to smoothen differences and arrive at compromises and agreement. The objective was to overcome the biases and an element of overruling dissent, ingrained in” decision by majority.

• It must however be noted that while the formal centres of the work of drafting the constitution were no doubt the Constituent Assembly and Drafting Committee, the Congress leaders held the important powers of decision-making.

Working of Drafting Committee

The Assembly met in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on 24 January 1950.

The original Constitution of India is hand-written with beautiful calligraphy, each page beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan including Beohar Rammanohar Sinha and Nandalal Bose.

Two days later, on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India became the law of all the States and territories of India. Rs.1,00,00,000 was official estimate of expenditure on constituent assembly. The Constitution has undergone many amendments since its enactment.

“Law and order are the medicine of the body politic and when the body politic gets sick, medicine must be

administered.”- B.R Ambedkar

B.R. AmbedkarBhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ( 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly

known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Untouchables (Dalits), women and

labour. He was Independent India's first law minister and the principal architect of the Constitution of India.

Principal committees and chairs

I. Committee on the Rules of Procedure: Rajendra PrasadII. Drafting Committee: B.R. AmbedkarIII. Steering Committee: Rajendra PrasadIV. Finance and Staff Committee: Rajendra PrasadV. Credential Committee: Alladi Krishnaswami AiyyarVI. House Committee: B. Pattabhi SitaramayyaVII. Order of Business Committee: K. M. MunshiVIII.Ad Hoc Committee on National Flag: Rajendra PrasadIX. Committee on Functions of Constituent Assembly: G.V. MavlankarX. States Committee: Jawaharlal NehruXI. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas:

Vallabhbhai PatelXII. Minorities Sub-Committee: H. C. Mookherjee• Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee: J. B. Kriplani• North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee:

Gopinath Bardoloi• Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than Those in Assam) Sub-Committee: A. V. Thakkar• Union Powers Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru• Union Constitution Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru

Interesting Facts about framing the constitution

• India has the longest constitution in the world. It has 448 articles, 12 schedules and 94 amendments

• The drafting committee had handwritten and calligraphed the constitution - both in English and in Hindi. There was no typing or print involved.

• After the constitution was presented to the Constituent Assembly, they took two years, eleven months and seventeen days to pass it.

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