1 Function of a 1.
The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules allow for
constitution minimal coordination amongst members of a society.
2. It is an authority that constitutes government in the first place.
3. the third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a Government
can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in the sense that
government may never trespass them.
4. The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to fulfill the
aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society.
No constitution by itself achieves perfect justice. But it has to convince -people that it
provides the framework for pursuing basic justice.
The Indian Constitution is described as ‘a living’ document (Chapter 9}. By striking a
balance between the possibility to change the provisions and the limits on such
changes, the Constitution has ensured that it will survive as a document respected by
people. This arrangement also ensures that no section or group can, on its own,
subvert the Constitution.
2 MAKING OF THE As far back as in 1928. Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a
INDIAN constitution for India. In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian
CONSTITUTION
National Congress dwelt on how independent India’s constitution should look, like.
Both these documents were committed to the inclusion of universal adult franchise,
right to freedom and equality and to protecting the rights of minorities in the
constitution of independent India.
Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July [Link] members were
elected by indirect election by the members of the Provisional Legislative Assemblies
that had been established in 1935. The Constituent Assembly was composed roughly
along the lines suggested by Cabinet Mission.
1. Jhaverbhai Vallabhai Patel (1875- 1950) born: Gujarat. Minister of Home,
Information and Broadcasting in the Interim Government. Lawyer and leader of
Bardoli peasant satyagraha. Played a decisive role in the integration of the Indian
princely states. Later: Deputy Prime Minister.
2. Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) born: Saudi Arabia. Educationist, author and
theologian; scholar of Arabic. Congress leader, active in the national movement.
Opposed Muslim separatist politics. Later Education Minister in the first union
cabinet.
3. T.T. Krishnamachari (1899-19741 born: Tamil Nadu. Member Drafting ommittee.
Entrepreneur and Congress leader. Later: Finance Minister in the Union Cabinet.
4. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) born: Bihar Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
Lawyer, known for his role in the Champaran satyagraha. Three times the president
of Congress. Later: the first President of India.
5. JaIpal Singh (1903-1970) born: Jharkhand a sportsman and educationist. Captain of
the first national Hockey team. Founder President of Adivasi Maha Sabha. Later:
founder of Jharkhand Party.
6. H. C. Mookherjee (1887-1956) born: Bengal. Vice— Chairman of the Constituent
Assembly. Reputed author and educationist. Congress leader. Member of All India
Christian Council and Bengal Legislative Assembly. Later: Governor of West Bengal.
7. G. Durgabal Desmukh (1909-1981) born: Andhra Pradesh. Advocate and public
activist for women’s emancipation. Founder of Aridhra Mahila Sabha. Congress
leader. Later: Founder Chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board.
8. Baldev Singh (1901-1961) born: Haryana A successful entrepreneur and leader of
the Panthic Akali Party in the Punjab Assembly. A nominee of the Congress in the
Constituent Assembly. Later: Defence Minister in the Union Cabinet.
9. Kanhaiyalal Maniklal Munshi (1887- 1971) born: Gujarat. Advocate, historian and
linguist. Congress leader and Gandhian. Later: Minister in the Union Cabinet.
Founder of the Swatantra Party.
10. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (18’91- 1956) born: Maharashtra. Chairman of
the Drafting Committee. Social revolutionary thinker and agitator against caste
divisions and caste based
inequalities. Later: Law minister in the first, cabinet of post-independence India.
Founder of Republican Party of India
11. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1901- 1953) born: West Bengal. Minister for Industry
and Supply in the Interim Government. Educationist and lawyer. Active in Hindu
Mahasabha. Later: Founder President of
12. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) born: Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister of the interim
government. Lawyer and Congress leader. Advocate of socialism, democracy and
antiimperialism. Later: First Prime Minister of India.
13. Sarojini Naidu (1879.1949) born: Andhra Pradesh. Poet, writer and political
activist. Among the foremost women leaders in the Congress. Later: Governor of Uttar
Pradesh.
14. Somnath Lahiri (1901-1984) born: West Bengal. Writer and editor. Leader of the
communist Party of India. Later: Member of West Bengal 89Legislative Assembly.
The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different subjects. Usually,
Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad or Ambedkar
chaired these Committees.
Assembly met for one hundred and sixty six days, spread over two years and eleven
months.
