Architects of the Indian Constitution - Major Committees and Eminent Members

Introduction:

The genesis of the Indian Constitution traces back to December 11, 1946, when Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly. This pivotal moment marked the commencement of an arduous journey towards crafting a comprehensive framework that would guide and govern a nation marked by unparalleled diversity.

The Constituent Assembly:

Comprising 389 members initially, the Constituent Assembly saw the formation of 13 committees, each tasked with specific roles in framing the constitution. Under the leadership of Dr. Sachidanand Sinha and later Dr. Rajendra Prasad as permanent chairman, the assembly toiled to encapsulate the essence of India's unique social, cultural, and religious tapestry. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar led the Drafting Committee, earning him the title of the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.

The Extraordinary Indian Constitution:

The Indian Constitution stands as the world's longest written constitution, originally housing 395 articles across 22 parts and eight schedules. Adopted on January 26, 1950, it imparts constitutional supremacy, a distinctive feature that sets it apart from parliamentary supremacy, as it was born out of the Constituent Assembly rather than the Parliament.

Major Committees and their Chairpersons:

1. Drafting Committee:

- Chairperson: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

- Members:

- K.M. Munshi

- Muhammed Saadulah

- Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer

- Gopala Swami Ayyangar

- N. Madhava Rao

- T.T. Krishnamachari

2. Union Power Committee:

- Chairperson: Jawaharlal Nehru

3. Union Constitution Committee:

- Chairperson: Jawaharlal Nehru

4. Provincial Constitution Committee:

- Chairperson: Vallabhbhai Patel

5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas:

- Chairperson: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

- Subcommittees:

- Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee: J.B. Kripalani

- Minorities Sub-Committee: Harendra Coomar Mookerjee

- North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee: Gopinath Bordoloi

- Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Apart from those in Assam) Sub-Committee: A.V. Thakkar

6. Rules of Procedure Committee:

- Chairperson: Rajendra Prasad

7. States Committee (Committee for negotiating with states):

- Chairperson: Jawaharlal Nehru

8. Steering Committee:

- Chairperson: Rajendra Prasad

9. Ad hoc Committee on the National Flag:

- Chairperson: Rajendra Prasad

10. Committee for the function of the Constitution Assembly:

- Chairperson: G.V. Mavlankar

11. House Committee:

- Chairperson: B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya

12. Language Committee:

- Chairperson: Moturi Satyanarayana

13. Order of Business Committee:

- Chairperson: K.M. Munshi

Milestones in the Journey:

9 December 1946: Formation of the Constituent Assembly (demanding a separate state, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting)

11 December 1946: President Appointed – Rajendra Prasad, vice-chairman Harendra Coomar Mookerjee and constitutional legal adviser B. N. Rau (initially 389 members in total, which declined to 299 after partition. Out of 389, 292 were from government provinces, 4 from chief commissioner provinces and 93 from princely states)

13 December 1946: An 'Objective Resolution' was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the constitution, which later became the Preamble of the constitution.

22 January 1947: Objective resolution unanimously adopted.

22 July 1947: National flag adopted.

15 August 1947: Achieved independence. India split into Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan.

29 August 1947: Drafting Committee appointed, with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the chairman. Other 6 members of the committee were: 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).

16 July 1948: Along with Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, V. T. Krishnamachari was also elected as the second vice-president of the Constituent Assembly.

26 November 1949: 'Constitution of India' passed and adopted by the assembly.

24 January 1950: Last meeting of the Constituent Assembly. 'The Constitution of India' (with 395 articles, 8 schedules, 22 parts) was signed and accepted by all.

26 January 1950: The 'Constitution of India' came into force after 2 years, 11 months, and 18 Days, at a total expenditure of ?6.4 million to finish.

Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar was the first speaker when meeting the assembly of Lok Sabha, after turning republic.

Post-Partition Challenges:

The partition of India in 1947 brought about a reduction in the assembly's strength from 389 to 299 members. The challenges posed by the partition necessitated the withdrawal of members from regions now constituting Pakistan.

Members of the Constituent Assembly:

The Constituent Assembly comprised esteemed members who played pivotal roles in the nation's constitutional journey. Notable members included Chairman Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Drafting committee chairman Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, K.M. Munshi, Muhammed Saadulah, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Gopala Swami Ayyangar, N. Madhava Rao, T.T. Krishnamachari, and others

Members:

O. V. Alagesan, Ammu Swaminathan, M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, Moturi Satyanarayana, Dakshayani Velayudhan, G. Durgabai, Kala Venkatarao, N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, D. Govinda Das, Jerome D'Souza, P. Kakkan, T. M. Kaliannan, K. Kamaraj, V. C. Kesava Rao, T. T. Krishnamachari, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, L. Krishnaswami Bharathi, P. Kunhiraman, Mosalikanti Thirumala Rao, V. I. Munuswamy Pillai, M. A. Muthiah Chettiar, V. Nadimuthu Pillai, S. Nagappa, P. L. Narasimha Raju, B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya, C. Perumalswamy Reddy, T. Prakasam, S. H. Prater, Raja Swetachalapati, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar, Ramnath Goenka, O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar, N. G. Ranga, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Sheik Galib Sahib, K. Santhanam, B. Shiva Rao, Kallur Subba Rao, U. Srinivas Mallya, P. Subbarayan, C. Subramaniam, V. Subramaniam, M. C. Veerabahu Pillai, P. M. Velayudapan, A. K. Menon, T. J. M. Wilson, M. MuhammadBakshi Tek Chand, Jairamdas Daulatram, Thakur Das Bhargava, Bikramlal Sondhi, Yashwant Rai, Ranbir Singh Hooda, Lala Achint Ram, Nand Lal, Baldev Singh, Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir, Sardar Hukam Singh, Sardar Bhopinder Singh Mann, Sardar Rattan Singh Lohgarh,Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, Chaudhry Suraj Mal, Begum Aizaz Rasul Ismail, K. T. M. Ahmed Ibrahim, Mahboob Ali Baig Sahib Bahadur, B. Pocker Sahib Bahadur, V. Ramaiah, Ramakrishna Ranga Rao, V Kodandarama Reddy,[7]P.Ranga Reddy,D.Sanjeevaiyaa, Balchandra Maheshwar Gupte, Hansa Mehta, Hari Vinayak Pataskar, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Joseph Alban D'Souza, Kanayalal Nanabhai Desai, Keshavrao Jedhe, Khandubhai Kasanji Desai, B. G. Kher, Minoo Masani, K.M. Munshi, Narahar Vishnu Gadgil, S. Nijalingappa, S. K. Patil, Ramchandra Manohar Nalavade, R. R. Diwakar, Shankarrao Deo, G. V. Mavalankar, Vallabhbhai Patel, Abdul Kadar Mohammad Shaikh, Abdul Kadir Abdul Aziz Khan, Maulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, Ajit Prasad Jain, Rai Bahadur Raghubir Narain Singh, Algu Rai Shastri, Balkrishna Sharma, Banshi Dhar Misra, Bhagwan Din, Damodar Swarup Seth, Dayal Das Bhagat, Dharam Prakash, A. Dharam Dass, R. V. Dhulekar, Feroz Gandhi, Gopal Narain, Krishna Chandra Sharma, Govind Ballabh Pant, Govind Malviya, Har Govind Pant, Harihar Nath Shastri, Hriday Nath Kunzru, Jaspat Roy Kapoor, Jagannath Baksh Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jogendra Singh, Jugal Kishore, Jwala Prasad Srivastava, B. V. Keskar, Kamla Chaudhry, Kamalapati Tripathi, J. B. Kripalani, Mahavir Tyagi, Khurshed Lal, Masuriya Din, Mohanlal Saksena, Padampat Singhania, Phool Singh, Paragi Lal, Purnima Banerjee, Purushottam Das Tandon, Hira Vallabha Tripathi, Ram Chandra Gupta, Shibban Lal Saxena, Satish Chandra, John Matthai, Sucheta Kripalani, Sunder Lall, Venkatesh Narayan Tiwari, Mohanlal Gautam, Vishwambhar Dayal Tripathi, Vishnu Sharan Dublish, Begum Aizaz Rasul, Hyder Hussain, Hasrat Mohani, Abul Kalam Azad, Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Z H Lari, Amiyo Kumar Ghosh, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Banarsi Prasad Jhunjhunwala, Bhagwat Prasad, Boniface Lakra, Brajeshwar Prasad, Chandrika Ram, K. T. Shah, Devendra Nath Samanta, Dip Narain Sinha, Guptanath Singh, Jadubans Sahay, Jagat Narain Lal, Jagjivan Ram, Jaipal Singh Munda, Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, Kamaleshwari Prasad Yadav, Mahesh Prasad Sinha, Krishna Ballabh Sahay, Raghunandan Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, Rameshwar Prasad Sinha, Ramnarayan Singh, Sachchidananda Sinha, Sarangdhar Sinha, Satyanarayan Sinha, Binodanand Jha, P. K. Sen, Sri Krishna Sinha, Sri Narayan Mahtha, Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra, Hussain Imam, Syed Jaffer Imam, S. M. Latifur Rahman, Mohd Tahir Hussain, Tajamul Hussain, Choudhry Abid Hussain, Hargovind Mishra, Ambica Charan Shukla, Raghu Vira, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Bhagwantrao M, Ambica Charan Shukla, Raghu Vira, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Bhagwantrao Mandloi, Brijlal Biyani, Thakur Cheedilal, Seth Govind Das, Hari Singh Gour, Hari Vishnu Kamath, Hemchandra Jagobaji Khandekar, Ghanshyam Singh Gupta, Laxman Shrawan Bhatkar, Panjabrao Deshmukh, Ravi Shankar Shukla, R. K. Sidhva, Dada Dharmadhikari, Frank Anthony, Kazi Syed Karimuddin, Ganpatrao Dani, Nibaran Chandra Laskar, Dharanidhar Basu-Matari, Gopinath Bardoloi, J. J. M. Nichols-Roy, Kuladhar Chaliha, Rohini Kumar Chaudhury, Muhammad Saadulla, Abdur Rouf, Bishwanath Das, Krishna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Dev,Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Motiram Baigra, Mirza Afzal Beg, Maulana Mohammad Sayeed Masoodi, Pattom A. Thanu Pillai, R. Sankar, P. T. Chacko, Panampilly Govinda Menon, Annie Mascarene, P. S. Nataraja Pillai, K.A. Mohamed, P.K.Lekshmanan, Vinayak Sitaram Sarwate, Brijraj Narain, Gopikrishna Vijayavargiya, Ram Sahai, Kusum Kant Jain, Radhavallabh Vijayvargiya, Sitaram Jajoo, Balwantrai Mehta, Jaisukhlal Hathi, Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar, Chimanlal Chakubhai Shah, Samaldas Gandhi, V. T. Krishnamachari, Hiralal Shastri, Sardar Singhjhi of Khetri, Jaswant Singhji, Raj Bhadur, Manikya Lal Varma, Gokul Lal Asava, Ramchandra Upadhyaya, Balwant Singh Mehta, Dalel Singh, Jainarain Vyas, Ranjit Singh, Sochet Singh Aujla, Bhagwant Roy, Vinayakrao Balshankar Vaidya, B.N. Munavalli, Gokulbhai Bhatt, Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai, Paranlal Thakurlal Munshi, Balasaheb Hanumantrao Khardekar, Ratnappa Kumbhar, Lal Mohan Pati, N. Madhava Rau, Raj Kunwar, Sarangadhar Das, Yudhishthir Misra, Ratanlal Kishorilal Malviya, Kishori Mohan Tripathi, Thakur Ramprasad Potai, Bashir Hussain Zaidi, Krishna Singh, V. Ramaiah, Awadhesh Pratap Singh, Shambu Nath Shukla, Ram Sahai Tiwary, Manoolal Dwivedi, Himmat Singh K. Maheshwari, Girija Shankar Guha, Lal Singh, Bhavanji Arjan Khimji, Yashwant Singh Parmar Harekrushna Mahatab, Laxminarayan Sahu, Lokanath Mishra, Nandkishore Das, Rajkrishna Bose, Santanu Kumar Das, Deshbandhu Gupta, Mukut Bihari Lal Bhargava, C. M. Poonacha, K.C. Reddy, T. Siddalingaya, H. R. Guruv Reddy, S. V. Krishnamoorthy Rao, K. Hanumanthaiya, H. Siddhaveerappa, T. Channiah

Withdrawal of Members after Partition:

Following the partition of India, certain members withdrew from the Constituent Assembly due to changes in geopolitical boundaries:

Bengal (Now East Bengal):

- Abdullah al Mahmood

- Liaquat Ali Khan

- Fazlur Rahman

- H.S. Suhrawardy

Punjab (Now West Punjab):

- Muhammad Ali Jinnah

- Zafarullah Khan

- Iftikhar Hussain Khan

Northwest Frontier:

- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

- Sardar Bahadur Khan

Sind:

- Abdus Sattar Abdur Rahman

- Alhajj Muhammad Hashim Gazder

Balochistan:

- S.B. Nawab Mohammad Khan Jogezai

Legacy:

The legacy of the Constituent Assembly endures through the Constitution of India, which declares the nation as a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic. The original document, with its 395 articles, is preserved in a nitrogen-filled case at the Parliament House in New Delhi, a testament to the vision, unity, and resilience that birthed this remarkable framework.

Conclusion:

The making of the Indian Constitution stands as a monumental chapter in the history of independent India. It reflects the collective wisdom, foresight, and determination of a diverse group of leaders who envisioned a nation governed by justice, equality, and liberty. The Indian Constitution remains a living document, continually adapting to the evolving needs of a dynamic and diverse society.

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Sources :

https://www.constitutionofindia.net/stages-of-constitution-making/

https://sansad.in/ls/about/constituent-assembly

https://unacademy.com/content/karnataka-psc/study-material/polity/committees-of-the-constituent-assembly/

https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/major-committees-in-indian-constituent-assembly

https://www.studyiq.com/articles/committees-of-constituent-assembly/