Translation of Political Science Books

Framing of the Indian Constitution

The idea of setting up a constituent assembly in India was first mooted by Sri M. N. Roy in 1934.

In 1938, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru talked about adult franchise for framing the constitution of India and in the 'August Proposal' of 1940, the British Government agreed in principle.

In 1942, Cripps Mission arrived in India under the leadership of Sir Stanford Cripps for framing the Indian Constitution but it was rejected.

After the failure of Cripps Mission, a three-member Cabinet Mission (Lord Pathic Loris, A.V. Alexander, Sir Stafford Cripps) arrived in India in 1946 and this mission became the basis of formation of the Constituent Assembly.

As per the Cabinet Mission plan, one seat was allotted for every 10 lakh population.

Out of the total 389 seats of the Constituent Assembly, 296 seats were to be taken from British Provinces and 296 seats from local dominions.

Out of the 296 seats, 292 seats were to be taken from 11 British Provinces and 04 seats from Chief
Commisionrate Provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Marwar, Koorg and British Baluchistan).

The seats of every province were divided into three communities, Muslim, Sikh and General.
Out of the 296 seats of the 11 British Provinces, 213 seats were earmarked for the General Category, 79 seats for the Muslim Category and 04 seats for the Sikh Category.

The election for the 296 members of the Constituent Assembly was to be done by the State Legislature on the basis of proportional representation through a single transferable vote, whereas 93 members were to be elected by local dominions.

July- August, 1946 elections were for the State Legislature and out of 296 seats, 208 seats were won by the Congress, 73 by the Muslim League and 15 seats were won by other groups.

The Constituent Assembly had 15 women members, 26 scheduled caste members and 33 scheduled tribe members. In this Assembly, Frank Anthony led the Anglo-Indian community and P.H. Modi led the Paris Community. Dr. Ambedkar was elected from East Bengal but after partition, he was elected from Poona in place of M.R. Jaikar.

Hyderabad was the only dominion whose members were not included in the Constituent Assembly.
In the Constituent Assembly, Maulana Azad suggested the postponement of Adult Franchise for 15 years.

Mahatma Gandhi had suggested that the Indian National Congress should be dissolved as a political party after independence.

The symbol of the Constituent Assembly was Elephant.

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on December 9, 1946 and this is the day of its constitution. 207 members participated in this meeting.

After independence (1947), there were a total of 299 members in the Constituent Assembly.
During the first meeting on December 9, 1946, Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was elected as the provisional President of the Constituent Assembly.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was appointed the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly constituted on December 11, 1946 (second meeting).

On December 13, 1946, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Purpose Proposal in the Constituent Assembly which was passed on January 22, 1947 and the same Purpose Proposal became the preface ( Preamble) of the Indian Constitution.

Sri B.N. Rao (Benegal Nrasingh Rao) was elected as the Constitutional Advisor. H.C. Mukherjee was elected as the Vice President of the Constituent Assembly. V.T. Krishnamachari was another Vice President of the Constituent Assembly.

It took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days for the Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution. Total expenditure was 64 lakhs.

Examples of the Constitutions of 60 nations were taken for framing the Constitution.

In October 1947, B. N. Rao presented the first draft of the Constitution. For deliberations on this draft, a seven member draft committee (draft/manuscript committee) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ambedkar.

On February 21, 1948, the draft of the Constitution containing 315 articles and 8 schedules was tabled on which there were three perusals-
1. First perusal: November 4, 1948 to November 9, 1948.
2. Second perusal: November 15, 1948 to October 17, 1949.
3. Third perusal: November 14, 1949 to November 26, 1949.

On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution. 284 members of the Constituent Assembly, out of which 08 were women, signed the Constitution.

On November 26, 1949, 16 schedules came into immediate effect. These schedules were- 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392, 393, 394.

The last (12th) session of the Constituent Assembly was held on January 24, 1950 in which the National Anthem, National Song were adopted and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was chosen as the first President of India.

The entire Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950.

India was declared a Republic on January 26, 1950.


Important questions for the exams

1. In 1922, who said that, "the Indian Constitution will be as per the wishes of the Indians?
A. Mahatma Gandhi
B. Motivated Nehru
C. Gopalkrishna Gokhle
D. Balgangadhar Tilak

2. In 1924, who demanded from the British government that a constituent assembly be formed for framing the
Indian Constitution?
A. M.N. Roy
B. Mahatma Gandhi
C. Motivated Nehru
D. Gopalkrishna Gokhle

3. Who formally promulgated the idea of a Constituent Assembly?
A. Motivated Nehru
B. Jawaharlal Nehru
C. M. N. Roy
D. Mahatma Gandhi

4. Who gave concrete shape to the idea of a Constituent Assembly?
A. Mahatma Gandhi
B. Motivated Nehru
C. M.N. Roy
D. Jawaharlal Nehru

5. In which year did Congress pass a proposal regarding the demand of the Indian public for framing the Constitution without any type of external interfereance?
A. 1928
B. 1931
C. 1936
D. 1942

6. In 1938, who made the demand to form the Constituent Assembly on the basis of adult franchise?
A. Mahatma Gandhi
B. Jawaharlal Nehru
C. Subhash Chandra Bose
D. Vallabhbhai Patel

7. In 1942, under which plan it was accepted that an elected Constituent Assembly will be formed in India that will frame the Constitution after the war?
A. Cripps Plan
B. Wavel Plan
C. Cabinet Mission Plan
D. Mountbatten Plan