Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Polity & Governance
Why in news?
79 years ago, on December 9th the Constituent Assembly held its first meeting.
Proposed in–1st proposed in 1934 by M.N. Roy, a pioneering figure in the Indian Communist movement.
Established in line with – Guidelines set forth by the Cabinet Mission Plan on 1946.
Purpose – Formulate a Constitution for facilitating appropriate transfer of sovereign power from British authorities to Indian hands.
1st Session –On December 9, 1946, met in the Constitution Hall in New Delhi, which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House.
Dr. Sacchidananda Sinha was elected as the temporary Chairman of the Assembly.
On 11th December, 1946 - Elected President (Rajendra Prasad) & Vice-Presidents (VT Krishnamachari & HC Mookerji).
Structure –It incorporating both elected and nominated members:
Elected Members - Representatives from the existing provincial legislatures were elected through a system of proportional representation.
Nominated Members - The various princely states appointed their representatives directly, resulting in nominated members for their seats.
Diverse representation– Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsi, Anglo-Indian, Indian Christians, SCs/ STS, Backward Classes, and women belonging to all of these sections.
Composition – Total membership of the Constituent Assembly is 389
292 members elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies.
93 members representing the Indian Princely States.
4 members representing the Chief Commissioners’ Provinces.
Partition Impact –By June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan led to the formation of a separate Constituent Assembly for Pakistan and the final tally for the Indian Constituent Assembly was reduced to 299.
Duration – It took almost 3 years (2 years, 11 months, and 17 days) to draft the Constitution of India.
It held 11 sessions covering a total of 165 days, of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration of the Draft Constitution.
Key leaders –Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr BR Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Acharya JB Kripalani, Dr Rajendra Prasad and Sarojini Naidu, etc.
Adoption – Finally, the Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 with a Preamble, 395 Articles, and 8 Schedules.
The Constitution came into force from January 26, 1950 which is celebrated as the Republic Day.
