GE - MAKING OF POST-COLONIAL INDIA

NAME – VEDHA SHARMA

ROLL NO. – 1742
COURSE – BA (H) POLITICAL SCIENCE
SEMESTER – 3

ASSIGNMENT – 1
Q. Discuss the making of Indian Constitution with special
reference to Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Write about the salient features
of the constitution.

INTRODUCTION

The making of the Indian Constitution was not a one-day

process but a long drawn one. India had been under the control
of the East India company from 1757 – 1857 and later under
British rule from 1858 - 1947. The beginning of the making of
Indian constitution is believed to be since the 1930s (1929 to be
exact). At the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress
(INC) in December 1929, the Congress passed a resolution for
"Purna Swaraj", or total independence. The Congress then
urged Indians to celebrate January 26, 1930 as "Independence
Day" which laid down the need for the formulation of our
country’s very own constitution. However, the official body that
made the constitution, also known as the, Constituent assembly
was made in 1946.Some of the key people involved in the
framing of the Constitution of India include:

 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Chaired the Drafting Committee,

which was established on August 29, 1947. His role was

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 initially limited to adding provisions for the backward
communities but increased afterwards due to his
experience and knowledge.

 S. N. Mukherjee: The chief draftsman of the Constitution.

 Jawaharlal Nehru: Proposed the “Objective Resolution”.

 Rajendra Prasad: The President of the Constituent

Assembly.

Finally, the constitution came into effect on 26th January, 1950

which is celebrated as the Republic Day in India.

MAKING OF CONSTITUTION

India has been ruled by the British for almost 200 years. Earlier,
East India company had the authority from 1757 (Battle of
Plassey) – 1857. But after the revolt of 1857, India came under
the direct rule of British crown. The period from 1858 – 1947 is
also referred to as “British Raj”. During this time, the event of
1929 – 1930 laid down the framework for major changes that
had to be brought for the bright future of India. Indian freedom
fighters always envisioned for India to be independent and
therefore; to achieve this goal they passed the resolution of
“Purna Swaraj” at the Lahore session held on 19th December,
1929. 26th January, 1930 was chosen for the execution of this
resolution. Although, the ultimate goal of freedom couldn’t be
achieved but gave the idea of having a “Constitution” for the
independent India.

Indian constitution had to be prepared by an official body called

the Constituent assembly. The idea of a constituent assembly
was first proposed in 1934 by M.N. Roy. However, the actual
constituent assembly was formed in 1946 on the basis of the
cabinet mission plan. Members of this assembly were
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appointed through elections which were held in July, 1946. Out
of 210 general seats, the Congress won 199 and the Muslim
league captured 73 seats out of a total of 78 Muslim seats. The
highest positions in this assembly were assigned to very
learned administrators, jurists, veteran statesman and public
men. The election of members was done in a way to represent
the diversity of India, hence ensuring that the provisions
recommended by them in the constitution would help combat
the problems faced by the citizens in reality.

The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on
9 December, 1946 in the Constitution Hall which is now known
as the Central Hall of Parliament House. The Constituent
Assembly took almost three years (two years, eleven months
and seventeen days to be precise) to complete its historic task
of drafting the Constitution for Independent India. (The
constituent assembly as a result of the partition, under the
Mountbatten plan, got separated between the two nations.
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was established on 3 June
1947)

During this period, it held eleven sessions covering a total of

165 days. Of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration
of the Draft Constitution. At last, The Constitution of India was
adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26,
1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950.

PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY

The constituent assembly involved people who were the

dignitaries of their fields for example, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr.
B.R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
Dr. Sachidanand Sinha (he served as the temporary president
of the constituent assembly), etc.

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Dr Rajendra Prasad served as the president of the Constituent
Assembly and later became the first president of Independent
India. Jawaharlal Nehru suggested the inclusion of the
“objectives resolution” in the constitution. He then served as the
first Prime Minister of Independent India. Sardar Patel was the
chairman of the committees responsible for minorities, tribal
and excluded areas, fundamental rights, and provincial
constitutions.

Role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar - Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar is

popularly known all over India as the chief architect of the
Indian Constitution. His contribution in the making of this
“sacred document” is immense because to him the Constitution
was not just the basic law for the governance of the country;
rather it was a vehicle of the nation’s progress.

Initially his role was limited to including those provisions which

would help uplift the condition of the backward classes because
of his remarkable achievements in this field for example, pivotal
role in the Poona Pact, 1932 - his agreement was reached
between him and Mahatma Gandhi to secure enhanced
political representation and reserved seats for the depressed
classes (Scheduled Castes) in the legislative bodies; dedicated
his life to fighting for the rights and welfare of Dalits he founded
the "All India Scheduled Castes Federation" to represent their
interests and worked tirelessly to uplift the marginalised
communities.

But later onwards, he was made the chairman of the drafting

committee due to his exceptional expertise and qualifications in
the legal, economic and public affairs. He went on to study the
acclaimed constitutions of almost 60 countries including those
of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
and Canada. He was the one who suggested that fundamental
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rights be a part of our constitution, while providing special
safeguards to the minority communities and certain social and
educationally backward classes. He also emphasised on the
inclusion of article 17 which abolished untouchability and forced
labour to achieve the ideal of 'one man, one value, and one
man, one vote' and placing all people equally before the law.
His contribution is much more than what it seems because his
ideas formed the backbone of our constitution for example, that
the constitution should be workable, flexible, and strong enough
to hold the country together in peace and wartime. It should
also be able to evolve with changing times so as to continue
serving people with ease.

Features like federalism, central authority, directive principles of

state policy, socio – economic justice, sovereignty, secularism,
parliamentary democracy and even the preamble came out
through his counsel and vision. Ultimately, he went onto
become Independent India’s first Law and Justice Minister.

SALIENT FEATURES OF CONSTITUTION

 Lengthiest Handwritten Constitution – The constitution of

India is a very comprehensive and detailed document. It
has incorporated clauses that deal with all aspects of
society and even the situations. It is a written constitution
which ensures that powers or provisions are clearly
specified. Prem Behari Narain Raizada was the
calligrapher who hand-wrote the original Constitution of
India.
 Drawn from various sources - It has drawn inspiration from
various sources - the constitution of countries like UK,
France, USA, etc and even the Government of India Act,
1945. Though it is borrowed, the Indian constitution-

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 makers made sure the borrowed features were made
suitable to the Indian condition.
 Parliamentary form of government – The Constitution of
India, both at the centre and in the states, establishes a
parliamentary form of government. It is the system where
the executives work closely with legislature and is
accountable to it. The Parliament mainly consists of the
President and the two houses of the Parliament-The Lok
Sabha (House of the people) and the Rajya Sabha
(Council of states).
 Federal system with a unitary bias – The Constitution of
India declares India as a union of states, but a federal
system has been devised by distributing powers between
the centre and the states, as specified in the constitution.
For this purpose, three list of subjects have been provided
in the constitution namely - union list, state list, concurrent
list.
However, it is to be noted that the centre has been made
stronger than the states to withstand adverse situations,
indicating a unitary bias. Dr BR Ambedkar himself
suggested this kind of setup after thorough
reconsideration of Indian society and its needs.
 Fundamental rights – The inclusion of fundamental rights
in Part III of our Constitution enables us to achieve the
ends of democracy and also for the development of man’s
personality. This provision has been borrowed from the
constitution of USA, USSR and France. Some of the
fundamental rights contained in Articles 15(2), 17, 23, and
24 are also enforceable against individuals as they are
very significant rights relating to the prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth etc.

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 Fundamental duties - Fundamental Duties were added to
our Constitution by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 on
the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. The
Fundamental Duties are dealt with in Article 51A under
Part-IV A of the Indian Constitution. These are basically 11
guiding principles that the Indian citizens have to uphold to
maintain the unity of India.
 Directive principles of state policy – Directive principles of
state policy are basically rules or provisions written in the
constitution (they’re mentioned in Part IV) that the state
has to keep in mind while formulating policies. They are
also referred to as “instrument of instructions” with a moral
force. The main idea behind their inclusion was to achieve
the dream of “welfare state”. Some other ideas are fair
distribution of wealth, free and compulsory education for
children up to the age of 14, adequate means of
livelihood, help against unemployment, old age, sickness,
disability, etc.
 Blend of rigidity and flexibility – The Indian Constitution is
a unique blend of rigidity and flexibility this ensures that
the constitution doesn’t become a toy in the hands of the
executive but also isn’t susceptible to change. It has the
necessary provisions which help it evolve with time.
 Independent Judiciary – Independent judiciary was an
important safeguard for the constitution. The Supreme
Court ensures that no authority goes against the doctrine
of this document and has been vested with the power of
judicial review which enables to declare any law
unconstitutional if it is not in correlation with the
constitution.
 Preamble – The preamble is like a mirror of the
constitution, it basically explains what is mentioned inside

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 it in a summarised manner. Major elements of the
preamble are –
I. Sovereign: The term means that India has its own
independent authority and it is not a dominion of any
other external power.
II. Socialist: The term means the achievement of
socialist ends (welfare) through democratic means. It
holds faith in a mixed economy where both private
and public sectors co-exist side by side.
III. Secular: The term means that all the religions in
India get equal respect, protection and support from
the state.
IV. Democratic: The term implies that the Constitution of
India has an established form of Constitution which
gets its authority from the will of the people
expressed in an election.
V. Republic: The term indicates that the head of the
state is elected by the people. In India, the President
of India is the elected head of the s
VI. Social justice: The Preamble aims to secure social
justice for all citizens by eliminating inequities based
on wealth, status, race, religion, caste, etc.
VII. Economic Justice: Economic Justice means no
discrimination can be caused by people on the basis
of their wealth, income, and economic status.
VIII. Political Justice: Political Justice means all the
people have an equal, free and fair right without any
discrimination to participate in political opportunities.
IX. Equality: It ensures that all citizens have equal
status and opportunity, and that no one is
discriminated against or given special privileges.
X. Liberty: The Preamble provides for freedom of
thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship.
XI. Fraternity: It refers to the feeling of brotherhood
among citizens. It promotes unity.

CONCLUSION

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The making of the Indian constitution is indeed a remarkable
event of history which has continued to impact the present
generations. India had been under the control of British for
almost 200 years and left the country in divided condition.
Having its own vision in the form of Constitution after
independence marked the advent of new beginnings. This
achievement wasn’t possible without the immense contribution
of notable leaders but most importantly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He
served as the Chairman of Drafting committee in the
constituent assembly. He studied the constitution of almost 60
countries and assimilated those provisions which would benefit
the Indian conditions after certain modifications. Independent
India was deeply divided on the basis of religion, caste, race,
languages, cultures creed, etc. But Ambedkar prescribed single
citizenship, a single judiciary, and uniformity in fundamental
laws to integrate Indian society. He even included mechanisms
to uplift the conditions of marginalised and discriminated
communities to uphold the provision of equality which was
supposed to be his role earlier but increased later on.

His idea and philosophy for independent India is valiantly

conveyed through his work contributed towards the making of
constitution. The constituent assembly had various other
committees like Drafting Committee, Union Powers Committee,
Union Constitution Committee, Provincial Constitution
Committee, Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights,
Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas, Rules of Procedure
Committee, States Committee, Steering Committee. They
worked on other issues and after the amalgamation,
“Constitution” of independent India was formed. It was then
adopted in 1949 and came into effect on 26th January, 1950.
Lastly, it can be said that our constitution is one of the finest
works done by the makers. Their farsightedness enabled India
to be where it is today combating every challenge and soaring
with success.