Reading Constituent Assembly Debates

Dr. BR Ambedkar presented the draft of the Constitution before the CA in 1948. Read the extracts from his speech. These are recorded in the “Proceedings of CA of India, [Certain parts of the speech have been shortened and are marked with ...]

Dr. Ambedkar begins with the process by which the draft was prepared. As the Assembly was not elected by universal suffrage, see the steps taken to ensure maximum participation of members and also general public.

Thursday, the 4th November 1948 DRAFT CONSTITUTION

The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar …: Mr. President, Sir, I introduce the Draft Constitution as settled by the Drafting Committee and move that it be taken into consideration.

The Drafting Committee was in effect charged with the duty of preparing a Constitution in accordance with the decisions of the Constituent Assembly, on the reports made by the various Committees appointed by it such as the Union Powers Committee, the Union Constitution Committee, the Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, Tribal Areas, etc. The Constituent Assembly had also directed that in certain matters the provisions contained in the Government of India Act, 1935, should be followed. ...I hope the Drafting Committee will be found to have faithfully carried out the directions given to it.

  • Drafting Committee was appointed roughly ____ days after the Independence.
  • The Assembly first appointed special committees on specific issues like, ____ , ____ , and ____.
  • The reports of these committees were discussed by the ____ and key decisions were taken by it.
  • The ____ Committee headed by Dr. Ambedkar had to incorporate these decisions.
  • The Draft also drew upon provisions of the ____ passed by the British Government.
  • It was then made available to public for ____ months so that they could evaluate it and give their suggestions on it.
  • In the Draft Constitution there were ____ Articles SCERT and ____ Schedules.

    • The Draft Constitution… is a formidable document. It contains 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. It must be admitted that the Constitution of no country could be found to be so bulky as the Draft Constitution.

    The Draft Constitution has been before the public for eight months. During this long time, friends, critics and adversaries have had more than sufficient time to express their reactions to the provisions contained in it.

    Now, we will see how our Constitution draws from the experiences of other nations with regard to political organisation. In this presentation

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