Drafting Committee

Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. It consisted of seven members. They were:

1. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman)

2. N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar

3. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar

4. Dr. K.M. Munshi

5. Syed Mohammad Saadullah

6. N. Madhava Rau (He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health)

7. T.T. Krishnamachari (He replaced D.P. Khaitan who died in 1948)

The Drafting Committee, after taking into consideration the proposals of the various committees, prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India, which was published in February, 1948. The people of India were given eight months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. In the light of the public comments,

criticisms and suggestions, the Drafting Committee prepared a second draft, which was published in October, 1948.

The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft. In all it sat only for 141 days.