NDA (I & II) 2020 General Ability Test · Question 59 of 148

Correct — C, Motilal Nehru. In 1928 the All-Parties Conference appointed a committee to draft a constitution for India, and it was chaired by Motilal Nehru; its report is known as the Nehru Report. It proposed dominion status, a bill of fundamental rights, and rejected separate communal electorates. His son Jawaharlal was associated with the era's politics but did not head this committee.

• (a)Mahatma Gandhi — Gandhi did not head the 1928 drafting committee; he shaped Congress politics of the period, but the constitution-drafting committee was chaired by Motilal Nehru.
• (b)T. B. Sapru — Tej Bahadur Sapru was an important member of the committee, but the chair — and the report's name — belonged to Motilal Nehru.
• (d)Jawaharlal Nehru — Jawaharlal Nehru was active in the era's politics and later opposed the report's dominion-status stand, but the committee was headed by his father, Motilal Nehru.

The Nehru Report (1928) was India's first major attempt at an indigenous constitution, drafted by an All-Parties Conference committee under Motilal Nehru in response to the all-white Simon Commission. It advocated dominion status, fundamental rights and a unitary tilt, and opposed separate electorates.

The trap is the surname 'Nehru' — students often pick Jawaharlal. The chair of the 1928 committee was his father, Motilal Nehru.

• The Nehru Report (1928) was chaired by Motilal Nehru.
• It was drafted in response to the Simon Commission's exclusion of Indians.
• It recommended dominion status and a bill of fundamental rights.
• It rejected separate communal electorates, drawing Muslim League opposition (Jinnah's Fourteen Points).

• Picking Jawaharlal Nehru instead of Motilal Nehru.
• Confusing the Nehru Report (1928) with the later Government of India Act, 1935.

Asked by year (1928) and 'committee that drafted a constitution' — attach the Nehru Report to Motilal Nehru.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Nehru Report of 1928 recommended which form of self-government for India?

  • (a)Complete independence
  • (b)Dominion status
  • (c)Provincial autonomy only
  • (d)A federation of princely states

  Answer(b) Dominion status — which the radical Congress wing opposed.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Nehru Report was drafted mainly in response to which event?

  • (a)The Rowlatt Act
  • (b)The Simon Commission
  • (c)The Cripps Mission
  • (d)The Cabinet Mission

  Answer(b) The Simon Commission — whose all-white membership prompted Indians to draft their own constitution.