Constituent Assembly of India

Why in news?

79 years ago, on December 9^th the Constituent Assembly held its first meeting.

• Proposed in– 1^st 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.
• 1^st 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 11^th 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.

References

1. Indian Express | 79 years of first meeting of Constituent Assembly
2. Digital Sansad | Constituent Assembly