- The member of the Constituent Assembly drafted the Indian Constitution. On 9 December 1946, the constituent Assembly first met.
- The constituent assembly reassembled after the partition of Pakistan for the remaining part on 14th August 1947.
- The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected indirectly by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies.
- The constituent Assembly was made of members suggested by the Committee of the British Cabinet also known as the Cabinet Mission.
The Role of Provinces and the Princely States
- Seats were allotted to the Provinces and the Princely States based on the proportion to their population roughly in the ratio of 1:1 Million.
- The Provinces were to elect 292 members while the princely states were to elect a minimum of 93 seats.
- The number of seats in the provinces was divided between the three major religions such as Hindu, Muslim and Sikh with respect to their proportion to their population.
- The member of each community in the Provisional Legislative Assembly elected their members by Proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
- The method of selection of representatives of Princely states was to be determined by the princely states themselves.
Composition of the constituent assembly
- 284 members were present on 26th November 1949 and added their signatures to the constitution which finally passed.
- The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place in New Delhi at the Constitution Hall on 9th December 1946.
- Dr Sachchidananda Sinha took Chair as a Temporary Chairman.
- The final meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on 24th January 1950, with the “Signing of the Constitution” and Dr Rajendra Prasad is the Chairman of the Debate.
- The Constituent Assembly debate consists of 12 Volumes. The Constituent Assembly was held between 9th December 1946 to 24th January 1950.
Major committees in Indian constituent assembly
- Drafting Committee – B. R. Ambedkar.
- Union Power Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Provincial Constitution Committee – Vallabhbhai Patel.
- Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Vallabhbhai Patel.
- 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
- Rules of Procedure Committee – Rajendra Prasad
- States Committee (Committee for negotiating with states) – Jawaharlal Nehru
- Steering Committee – Rajendra Prasad
- National Flag and HOC Committee – Rajendra Prasad
- Committee for the function of the Constitution Assembly – G V Mavlankar
- House Committee – B Pattabhi Sitaramayya
- Language Committee – Moturi Satyanarayana
- Order of Business Committee – K M Munshi
