1) Constitution Assembly
The Constituent
Assembly was a group of accomplished people who worked tirelessly to
provide free India with a constitution that Indians could be proud of. A
constituent assembly is a group of elected officials tasked with creating a
constitution. As a result, a constituent assembly's sole responsibility is to
draft the constitution. The assembly is dissolved once the constitution is
completed and adopted.
2) The issues before the Constituent Assembly
The Constituent
Assembly had to address several crucial and complex issues in framing the
Constitution. Some of the major issues included:
(1) Partition and Refugees: The partition of India in 1947 created the
issue of rehabilitation of millions of refugees and maintaining law and order.
(2) Integration of Princely States: Over 560 princely states had to be integrated
into the Indian Union, each with separate treaties with the British.
(3) Fundamental Rights: There was a strong demand to ensure basic
human rights and freedoms for all citizens.
(4) Federal Structure: There was debate on whether India should be a
federal or unitary state, especially given the diversity of
languages, religions, and regions.
(5) Language Issue: There was a major debate on the official
language of India, with conflict between supporters of Hindi and other
regional languages.
(6) Minority Rights: The Assembly had to ensure protection of
religious and cultural rights of minorities in the wake of communal violence.
(7) Economic and Social Justice: Addressing inequalities in wealth, caste
discrimination, and the need for socio-economic reforms were central issues.
(8) Directive Principles and Duties: The Assembly had to decide on non-justiciable
guidelines to ensure social and economic democracy.
(9) Democracy and Adult Franchise: The Assembly decided on a parliamentary
system of government and universal adult franchise, which was a bold
and progressive step.
3) Passing of the Constitution
The Constitution of India went through a detailed and democratic process before its adoption:
(1) Time Taken: The Constituent Assembly met for 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days,
holding 11 sessions with 165 days of meetings.
(2) Debates: The debates were thorough and inclusive, and over 2,000 amendments were
moved and considered during the drafting.
(3) Drafting Committee: The Drafting Committee, formed on 29 August
1947, was headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. It was responsible for preparing the
draft Constitution.
- Members of Drafting Committee
- Ambedkar as the chairman
- K.M. Munshi,
- Muhammed Saadulah,
- Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer,
- Gopala Swami
- Ayyangar, N. Madhava Rao (He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health),
- T T Krishnamachari (He replaced D P Khaitan who died in 1948)
(4) Adoption: After extensive debates and modifications, the Constitution was adopted on 26th November 1949. On that day, the Constituent Assembly formally approved the final draft.
(5) Signatures: The members signed the Constitution on 24th January 1950, two days
before its enforcement.
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