Constituent Assembly and Constitution

A Constituent Assembly with 385 members was established in 1946. But the partition of the country in August 1947

reduced the size of this body to 298. The Constituent Assembly functioned both as the parliament and the constitution making body. The constitution of India was finalized by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly worked through a number of committees. A drafting committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar. On the basis of the report of the various committees the drafting committee prepared a draft of the constitution. The draft along with hundreds of amendments was further subjected to the serious discussions of the Constituent Assembly for nearly one year. Finally the constitution was approved on 26 November 1949.

Our constitution in the beginning contained 395 articles and 8 schedules. The constitution resolves to constitute India as a sovereign, democratic republic. The basic concepts of our constitution can be understood from the preamble, the list of fundamental rights, the directive principles of state policy etc.