Committees Of Constituent Assembly
Introduction
A number of committees were established by the Indian Constituent Assembly to tackle various facets of the constitution-making process. 22 committees were chosen by India's Constituent Assembly to address various constitutional concerns. Of those, eight were significant committees, the others were minor committees.
Historical Background of Constituent Assembly Committees
• The Indian Constitution was written by the Constituent Assembly, which was established in 1946 in accordance with the cabinet mission plan. Once India gained independence in 1947, the Constituent Assembly was legally created as a completely autonomous legislature.
• Several committees were established by the Constituent Assembly to draught the Indian constitution.
• The drafting committee was one of 22 committees that Constituent Assembly set up to create the constitution.
• The main committees established are the Advisory Committee on Tribal Lands, the Finance Relations Committee, the Union Power Committee on Basic and Minority Rights, and the Provincial Commissioners Committee.
• A drafting committee headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was at the time an official member of the Indian government, was established as a result of the committees' prepared and accepted report.
• A legal framework was what the drafting committee was tasked with creating in order to include the decision in the other committees' reports.
Constituent Assembly's Committees
• Several committees and subcommittees supported the work of the Constituent Assembly. There are two different kinds of committees: those that handle formal issues and those that deal with important issues.
• The Drafting Committee is the most significant committee. The Chairperson of the Drafting Committee is Dr.BR Ambedkar.
• Eight of the 22 committees established by the Constituent Assembly and other subcommittees are Main Committees that are charged with drafting the constitution.
Major Committees
1. Union Power Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru.
2. Union Constitution Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
3. Province Constitution Committee: Sardar Patel
4. Drafting committee: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
5. Advisory committee on fundamental rights, minorities, and tribal and excluded areas: Sardar Patel
The following subcommittees made up this committee:
• Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee - J.B. Kripalani
• Minorities Sub-Committee - H.C. Mukherjee
• North-East Frontier Tribal areas and excluded and partially excluded subcommittee - Gopinath Bardoloi
• Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) - A.V. Thakkar
• Rules of Procedure Committee - Rajendra Prasad
• States committee (Committee for Negotiation with States) - Jawaharlal Nehru
• Steering Committee - Dr.Rajendra Prasad Committee
Minor-Committees
• Committee on the function of the Constituent Assembly - G.V. Mavalankar
• Order of Business Committee - Dr. K.M. Munshi
• House Committee - B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
• Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag - Rajendra Prasad.
• Special Committee to examine the draft Constitution - Jawaharlal Nehru Alladi
• Credentials Committee - Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
• Finance and Staff Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Press Gallery Committee - Usha Nath Sen
• Committee on Chief Commissioners' Provinces - B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya,
• Commission on linguistic provinces - S.K. Dar
• Expert committee on financial provisions - Nalini Ranjan Sarkar
• Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court - S. Varadachari
• Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship - S Varadachari
Drafting Committee
• The Constitutional Council created the Drafting Commission on August 29, 1947, under the direction of Dr. B. Ambedkar, to prepare the constitution's drafting.
• It has seven people in it. The drafting committee is the most significant group because it is tasked with creating the new constitution from scratch using the information provided by the previous committees' reports.
• After the initial draught was published in February 1948, Indians had eight months to discuss it and suggest changes.
• A second draught was created by the committee in response to feedback from the general public, and it was released in October of that same year.
• The committee went through the reports multiple times before receiving a final draught that was satisfactory.
The Drafting Committee was composed of seven people:
• B.R. Ambedkar, MD (Chairman)
• Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
• Ayyar Alladi Krishnaswamy
• K.M. Munshi, M.D.
• Muhammad Syed Saadullah Madison Rau (He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health)
• Krishnamachari, T. (He replaced D.P. Khaitan who died in 1948)
Conclusion
22 committees were established by the Constituent Assembly to address various constitutional issues. The final draught of the constitution was delivered to Parliament on November 4, 1948, and it was ratified on November 26, 1949.