Indian Constitution :-
The Indian Constitution is the single largest written constitution in the world.The Indian Constitution was drafted between 9 December 1946 and 28 November 1949. There were a total of 11 sessions of the Constituent Assembly in which 165 days were spent in sittings.
The Indian Constitution was prepared in about 2 years 11 months and 18 days . And about 64 lakhs was spent to make it.
The Indian Constitution describes the Indian system of governance, the relationship between the state and the center and the functions of the main organs of the state.
The making of the Indian Constitution was one of the most important work of nation building, the formation of the Indian Constitution was done by big leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Period of upheaval:-
The years before the constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950 were very turbulent. It was also a moment of great hope and of great disillusionment.
Quit India movement in the memory of the people , the efforts of the Azadi Hind Fauj, the revolt of the Royal Indian Navy in 1946, the workers' and peasants' movements in different parts of the country were symbols of hope, so the same Hindu-Muslim riots and the partition of the country were horrific disillusionment. was the moment.
Our Constitution has helped to heal the wounds of the past and the present, and to bring Indians divided into different classes, castes and communities in a common political experiment.
Demands of the Constitution :-
Mahatma Gandhi, during the non-cooperation movement in 1922 AD, demanded that the political fate of India should be decided by the Indians themselves.
The Government of India Act 1935 was passed to fulfill the aspirations of Indians due to the failure of legal commissions and round table conferences.
Congress demanded in 1935 AD that the Constitution of India should be made without any outside interference.
In 1938 AD, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1939 AD, the Congress Working Committee clearly demanded its own Constituent Assembly of Indians.
Formation of Constituent Assembly: -
The Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 as per the proposal suggested by the Cabinet Mission Plan.
Under this, the total number of elected members of the Constituent Assembly was 389 . Out of which 296 British India and 93 members were elected from the princely states .
All the states and princely states were to be given seats in proportion to their population. Out of which one member for the Constituent Assembly was to be elected by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assembly for every one million population .
The allocation of seats among the 296 members of the provinces was as follows
- normal 213
- Muslim 79 and
- Sikhs were 4.
The members of the Constituent Assembly were not elected on the basis of universal suffrage. Rather, the provincial legislatures elected the members of the Constituent Assembly.
The Congress was influential in the Constituent Assembly because in the provincial elections, the Congress won a landslide victory in the general constituencies and the Muslim League got the majority of Muslim seats.
But the Muslim League thought it appropriate to boycott the Constituent Assembly and continued the demand for Pakistan by making another constitution. In the beginning, the socialists also stayed beyond the Constituent Assembly because they considered it as an institution created by the British. For all these reasons, 82% of the members of the Constituent Assembly were members of the Congress party.
But not all Congress members were of the same opinion. Their views differed on many crucial issues. Many Congressmen were inspired by socialism and many others were supporters of Zamindari. Some were close to communal parties and some were staunchly secular.
Discussions in the Constituent Assembly :-
The discussions held in the Constituent Assembly were influenced by public opinion, when there was a debate in the Constituent Assembly, the arguments of different parties were also printed in the newspapers and all the proposals were publicly debated. Suggestions of the public were also invited to form collective participation. Many language minorities demanded to protect their mother tongue.
Main Leaders / Main Voices of Constituent Assembly :-
There were a total of three hundred members in the Constituent Assembly, of which the role of six members was very important, out of which three Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad were members of the Congress.
In addition, jurist B. R . Ambedkar, K.M. Mushi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer .
There were also two administrative officers in the Constituent Assembly. One of these B.N. Rao was the Constitutional Adviser to the Government of India while the other officer, S.N. Mukherjee was His role was that of the chief planner.
Important facts about the constitution:-
| The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946. |
| It was boycotted by the Muslim League. |
| Dr. Satchidanand Sinha was elected as the Provisional Speaker of the Sabha. |
| Second meeting – 11 December 1946. |
| Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent chairman of the assembly. |
| Third meeting – 13 December 1946. |
| Nehru introduced the Objectives Resolution. |
| Member – 389 |
| President – Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
| Principal Chairman of the Drafting Committee – BR Ambedkar |
| Constitutional Adviser - BN Rao |
Objectives resolution was introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 . |
| Duration – 2 months 11 months 11 days |
| Constitution completed – 26 November 1946 |
| Applicable or enacted - 26 January 1950 |
| Constituent Assembly held 11 sessions, meeting for 165 days |
| Head of the Interim Government – Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Muslim League joined the Interim Government - October 13, 1946 |
Objective Proposal :-
On 13 December 1946 , Jawaharlal Nehru presented the Objectives Resolution before the Constituent Assembly. In this, India was declared an " independent, sovereign republic", the citizens were assured of justice, equality and freedom and it was promised that "adequate protective provisions should be made for minorities, backward and tribal areas and oppressed and other backward classes". Will go
Pt . Nehru said that the framework of our democracy would emerge only from the discussion between us. The ideals and provisions of the Indian Constitution could not have been taken from anywhere else.
Pt . Nehru had also proposed that the national flag of India would be a tricolor flag of 3 equal width strips of saffron, white, and dark green colors . In the middle of which will be a dark blue circle.
Vallabhbhai Patel was mainly doing many important work behind the scenes. He was instrumental in helping to draft several reports and in generating consensus among many conflicting views.
Apart from this three faction of Congress, eminent jurist and economist Bhim Rao Ambedkar was also one of the most important members of the assembly. Although Ambedkar had been a political opponent of the Congress during the British rule. But at the time of independence, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, he was invited to take over the post of Union Law Minister. In this role he served as the chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution.
Two other lawyers were also working with him. Both KM Munsi of Gujarat and Alladi Krishna Swami Iyer of Madras gave important suggestions on the draft of the constitution.
Ambedkar had the responsibility of getting the draft of the constitution passed in the assembly. This work took about 3 years and the printed records of the discussions during this period 11/12 were published in huge volumes.
Communist member of Constituent Assembly Somnath Lahiri :-
Somnath Lahiri, a communist member of the Constituent Assembly, could see the shadow of British imperialism on the discussions in the assembly. In the winter of 1946 - 1947, when discussions were going on in the Constituent Assembly, the British were still in India.
Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Interim Government was running the government but it had to do all the work under the supervision of the Viceroy and the British Government sitting in London. Lahiri explained to his colleagues that the Constituent Assembly was made by the British and it was working to realize the plan of the British.
The problem of separate electorates:
On 27 August 1947, B. Pokar Bahadur of Madras gave an influential speech in favor of maintaining separate electorates.
The problem of separate electorates was debated in the Constituent Assembly. Madras B. Poker Bahadur favored this but, most of the nationalist leaders like RV Dhulekar, Sarkar Patel, Govind Vallabh Pant, Begum Aijaz Rasool etc. strongly opposed it and called it fatal for the country.
Sardar Patel had said that separate electorate is a poison that has permeated the entire politics of our country. Do you want peace in this country, if you want, leave it (separate electorate) immediately.
GB Pant said in a debate, separate electorate is not only harmful to the nation but also to the minorities. He said that it was the responsibility of the majority community to understand the problems of the minorities and sympathize with their aspirations. The demand for a separate electorate will permanently isolate and weaken minorities and further deprive them of any influence within the government.
All these arguments against separate electorates were based on the unity of the nation, where each individual is a citizen of a state, and each group had to be assimilated within the nation.
The constitution would provide citizenship and rights, in return the citizens were to offer their loyalty to the state. Communities can be recognized as cultural institutions and politically the members of all communities are equal to the members of the state.
By 1949, the majority of the Muslim members of the Constituent Assembly agreed against separate electorates and was removed.
Muslims were required to take an active part in the democratic process to ensure that they had a decisive voice in the political system.
Tribals and their rights :-
Adivasi, Jaipal Singh, an Adivasi, spoke at length about the exploitation, oppression and discrimination of Adivasis through history. He further said that there is a need to protect the tribes and make provisions which will help them to come to the level of general population.
Jaipal Singh said, there is a need to break the physical and emotional distance to integrate them into the mainstream. He insisted on reservation of seats in the legislature, as it helps give voice to his demands and people will be compelled to listen to it.
Provisions in the Constitution for the Depressed Classes of our country :-
Depressed classes make up 20-25% of the population of our country, so they are not a minority but they have been constantly marginalized.
Members of the Depressed Classes faced systematic marginalization. They did not have access to public places, were suppressed through distorted social and moral orders. The Depressed Classes had no access to education and had no stake in the administration.
The members of the Depressed Classes emphasized the problem of untouchability which could not be solved through protection and protection. To overcome this completely, there is a need to include these people in the mainstream and bring about behavioral change in the society.
The Constituent Assembly made a provision that untouchability was abolished, Hindu temples were opened to all castes and seats in the legislature, jobs in government offices were reserved for the lower castes. Many believed that social discrimination could be resolved only through a change in attitudes within the society.
Powers of the State :-
There was intense debate on the issue of division of government at the central and state level.
The constitution provided three lists of subjects viz.
- Central List – The Central Government can make laws on this.
- State List, State Government can make laws on it.
- Concurrent List Both the Union and State Governments can make laws on the items listed.
More items are listed in the Central List. In India – Central government is made more powerful so that it can ensure peace, security, and coordinate matters of vital interests and can talk for the whole country in the international arena.
However, certain taxes such as land and property tax, sales tax and tax on bottled liquor can be levied and levied by the state on its own.
Santhanam's view on the powers of the Center and the State :-
K Santhanam said that to make the state strong, it is necessary to bring power not only to the state but also to the center. He said if the Center proceeds responsibly then it cannot function properly. It is therefore important that certain powers be transferred to the State.
Again K, Santhanam said that the states should be given proper financial provisions so that they can function independently and they need not depend on the center for minor expenditure, if the allocation is not done properly then Santhanam and many more Others predicted a dark future. He further said that the province may rebel against the center and the center would break down, as excessive power is centralized in the constitution.
Need for strong government
The need for a strong government was further reinforced by the events of Partition. Many leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Gopalaswami Iyer etc. advocated a strong centre.
Before partition, the Congress had agreed to give considerable autonomy to the provinces. It was agreed to satisfy the Muslim League. But after the partition, there was no political pressure and the post-partition voice gave further impetus to the centralized power.
National language :-
In the Constituent Assembly, there was intense debate on the issues of the national language for months. Language was an emotional issue and it was related to the culture and heritage of the particular region.
By the 1930s, the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi accepted Hindi as the national language. The Hindi language was easy to understand and was a popular language among large parts of India. Hindi developed due to the combination of diverse culture and language.
The Hindi language was mainly composed of Hindi and Urdu, but it also contained words from other languages. But unfortunately, the language also suffered from communal politics.
Gradually Hindi and Urdu started separating. Hindi began to use more Sanskrit words, so Urdu became more assertive. Nevertheless, Mahatma Gandhi retained his faith in Hindi. He realized that Hindi was a composite language for all Indians.
Argument for making Hindi the national language :-
R . v . Dhulekar, a member of the Constituent Assembly, made a strong argument for making Hindi the national language and the language in which the constitution should be made. There was strong opposition to this argument.
The Assembly's Languages Committee prepared a report in which it sought to decide whether Hindi in the Devanagari script would be an official language but the transition to the Hindi world would be a gradual process and for the first 15 years after independence, English would be accepted as an official language. will be used in
The provinces were allowed to choose a language for official functions within the province.
He had accepted Hindi as the language of the people but the language is being changed. Words from Urdu and regional languages were removed. This move erodes the inclusive and holistic character of Hindi, and due to this, worries and fears develop in the minds of people belonging to different language groups.
Many members felt that the issue of Hindi as the national language should be treated with care and aggressive tenure and speech would only create fear among non-Hindi speaking people and further complicate the issue. There should be mutual understanding among various stakeholders.
Fear of domination of Hindi :-
Constituent Assembly member SG Durgabai said that there is strong protest against Hindi in South India.
Following the rise of controversy regarding the language, there is a fear among rivals that Hindi is antithetical to the provincial language and that it cuts at the root of the provincial language and the cultural heritage associated with it.
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History – Themes
in Indian History |
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Pol
Science – Contemporary World Politics |
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– Politics
in India since Independence |
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Geography – Indian
People and Economy |
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– Fundamental of Human Geography |
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Chapter 1: - Population: Distribution, Density, Growth
and Composition |
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Chapter 12: - Geographical Perspective on Selected
Issues and Problems |
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