An Introduction to the Indian Constitution
The Indian constitution is the primary law enforcing book in our nation. It consists of all the laws in the form of articles. The making of the constitution took almost 3 years, it was made after multiple rounds of discussions and debates. A constitution drafting committee was formed which consisted of people from different socio-economic backgrounds to make the constitution diverse and give every community an equal say. The committee was headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
When was the Indian Constitution Made?
In December 1946 the committee elected for drafting the constitution met at a constituent assembly to draft the constitution. The process started in December 1946. However, to draft a constitution for a country as big as India, it'd take a lot of time. This is because everyone's opinion must be taken into consideration and the constitution mustn't be biased towards a religious, economic, or social group. The committee discussed various aspects and introspected the problems that our country might face in the future. After discussions and debates, the constitution’s drafting was finally completed in the year 1949. The constitution was finally adopted on 26 January 1950. Today, we celebrate 26 January as republic day in order to commemorate the adoption of the constitution.
Who was the First President of the Constituent Assembly?
The constituent assembly needed a President in order to proceed in an orderly fashion. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was chosen as the president after his name surfaced when the members of the constituent assembly were asked to propose a chair for the constituent assembly. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was one of the oldest members of the constituent assembly and hence he became the first president of the constituent assembly.
Making of the Constitution
July 1946
After repeated protests and retributions, The British government finally decided to grant India its independence. However, the British said that they shall stay and govern the country until an interim governance structure is formed. This was a huge achievement for the Indians as the British had finally decided to return the Indian territory back to the Indians after ruling it and exploiting it for almost 200 years.
December 1946
9 th December 1946 is one of the most important dates of Indian history, on this date, the constituent assembly met for the very first time. This date marks the inception of the mission towards making the Indian constitution. The committee met with a mission to frame an unbiased constitution that takes care of the interests of the minorities.
August 28, 1947
Just about 10 days after independence, the country lay in a state of chaos due to the partition. Muslims from India and Hindus from Pakistan migrated to Pakistan and India respectively. This migration came at the cost of mass bloodshed and riots. To put things in place, the pace at which the constitution was being drafted had to increase. Hence, on 28th august 1947, Dr. BR Ambedkar was elected as the head of the constitution drafting committee.
November 4, 1947
After Dr. BR Ambedkar became the chief of the drafting committee, the committee went right back to the roots to learn more about the kinds of rules to put in place. The committee referred to the Government of India Act, 1935. After working on it for about 141 days, the committee came up with its first draft of the constitution on the 4th of November 1947. Further the committee sessions took place when they met in the constituent assembly 166 times over a period of 2 years. These meetings were also open to the common public.
January 24, 1950
After 3 years of hard work, discussions, debates, and conflicts the constituent assembly came up with the final draft of the constitution. The 308 members made 616 signatures on both the English and the Hindi draft of the Indian constitution.
January 26, 1950
2 days after the signatures were made, the Indian constitution was officially adopted by the Republic of India. It was in fact the longest written constitution in the world, it incorporated 8 Schedules, 395 Articles as well as 22 Parts. The constitution was put into immediate effect across every corner of the country. The president of Indonesia during the period, Sukarno was invited as the chief guest for the first republic day celebration in 1950. Today, the original copies of the Indian constitution are preserved and kept in helium inflated glass cases in the library of the parliament house.
Conclusion
Therefore, we can say that the Indian Constitution is a framework which governs the country and in order to make it more detailed, the founding fathers took a number of months in order to complete it so that the future generations do not face any issues and even left space for future amendments as per the requirements of the country.
FAQs on Making of Indian Constitution
1. Why did it take so long for the making of the constitution?
In December 1946 the constituent assembly of India sat together to draft the constitution and was finalized by 1949. Finally, on 26th January 1950, the Indian Constitution came into effect. The making of the constitution initially began with just 300 members of which the majority of them were from the congress party. They had different ideologies, viewpoints, and oppositions within the party itself. Conflicts are unavoidable when so many people with different ideologies discuss. Hence, to resolve all the conflicts and make the constitutions considering every religious, economic, and social group took almost 3 years. However, in the end, the Indian constitution surfaced as one of the best constitutions in the world.
2. Who was the permanent president of the constituent assembly?
When Dr. Sachinanda Sinha was proposed to be the chairman of the Indian constitution whereas Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who happens to be the first president of independent India was unanimously selected to become the permanent president of the constituent assembly. Dr. Rajendra Prasad a veteran freedom fighter who spoke strongly for independent India is recognized for his esteem contribution towards independent India.
3. When did the Constitution of India was enacted?
The Constitution of India was said to be enacted on 26th of November, 1949 when the constituent assembly signed the final draft of the constitution and signed it. Some of the articles of the Indian Constitution came into force from that day only whereas the entire constitution was adopted on 26th of January, 1950 on which the entire constitution came into force and India became a republic.
