Match list-I with list-II and identify the correct answer from the code given below - List-I Constituent Assembly Committee (A) Fundamental Rights (B) Steering (C) Union powers (D) Drafting List-II Chairman (i) B.R. Ambedkar (ii) Jawahar Lal Nehru (iii) K.M. Munshi (iv) Sardar Patel Code -

RPSC deleted this question in its final answer key, so no option is marked correct.

The stem matches four Constituent Assembly committees with four leaders. Granville Austin's The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation (1966) records who led each body.

Drafting Committee: B. R. Ambedkar. Austin lists its seven members in early 1948 as "Ambedkar, the chairman, Munshi, Ayyar, N. G. Ayyangar, D. P. Khaitan, N. Madhava Rau, and Mohammed Saadulla".

Union Powers Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru. Austin writes that the Assembly had "created a Union Powers Committee under Nehru's chairmanship in January 1947".

Steering Committee: Rajendra Prasad. Austin describes "the Steering Committee under Prasad's chairmanship".

Fundamental rights: two bodies. Austin names Patel as "chairman of the Advisory Committee" and Acharya Kripalani as "chairman of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee". K. M. Munshi was a member of that sub-committee and of the Drafting Committee.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  A-(iv), B-(iii), C-(ii), D-(i) — Code (1) pairs Fundamental Rights with Sardar Patel, Steering with K. M. Munshi, Union powers with Nehru and Drafting with Ambedkar. RPSC's final key marks no option.

  Austin's record for the four leaders, in this code's order: Patel chaired the Advisory Committee; Munshi was a member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and of the Drafting Committee; Nehru chaired the Union Powers Committee; Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

• (2)
  A-(ii), B-(iv), C-(iii), D-(i) — Code (2) pairs Fundamental Rights with Nehru, Steering with Sardar Patel, Union powers with K. M. Munshi and Drafting with Ambedkar. RPSC's final key marks no option.

  Austin's record for the four leaders, in this code's order: Nehru chaired the Union Powers Committee; Patel chaired the Advisory Committee; Munshi was a member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and of the Drafting Committee; Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

• (3)
  A-(iii), B-(iv), C-(ii), D-(i) — Code (3) pairs Fundamental Rights with K. M. Munshi, Steering with Sardar Patel, Union powers with Nehru and Drafting with Ambedkar. RPSC's final key marks no option.

  Austin's record for the four leaders, in this code's order: Munshi was a member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and of the Drafting Committee; Patel chaired the Advisory Committee; Nehru chaired the Union Powers Committee; Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

• (4)
  A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i) — Code (4) pairs Fundamental Rights with Nehru, Steering with K. M. Munshi, Union powers with Sardar Patel and Drafting with Ambedkar. RPSC's final key marks no option.

  Austin's record for the four leaders, in this code's order: Nehru chaired the Union Powers Committee; Munshi was a member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and of the Drafting Committee; Patel chaired the Advisory Committee; Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

The Constituent Assembly did much of its work through committees, each of which examined a subject and reported to the full Assembly. Austin counts eight major committees: Rules, Steering, Advisory, Drafting, Union Subjects, Union Constitution, Provincial Constitution, and States.

The Advisory Committee dealt with rights, and its sub-committees included one on Fundamental Rights and one on Minorities. Patel, as its chairman, presented the Interim Report on fundamental rights to the Assembly on 29 April 1947.

The Drafting Committee came later. Austin records that from October 1947 until mid-February 1948 it was busy converting the draft of Constitutional Adviser B. N. Rau into the Draft Constitution.

Key facts

• Austin (1966): in early 1948 the Drafting Committee had seven members, with B. R. Ambedkar as chairman and K. M. Munshi among the members.
• Austin: the Assembly created a Union Powers Committee under Jawaharlal Nehru's chairmanship in January 1947.
• Austin: the Steering Committee met under Rajendra Prasad's chairmanship.
• Austin: Sardar Patel chaired the Advisory Committee; Acharya Kripalani chaired its Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee.
• Patel presented the Interim Report of the Advisory Committee on the Subject of Fundamental Rights to the Constituent Assembly on 29 April 1947 (Austin).

Common traps

• Treating 'Fundamental Rights' as one committee: Austin records the Advisory Committee under Patel and, within it, the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee under Kripalani.
• Reading K. M. Munshi's memberships as a chairmanship: Austin lists him as a member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and of the Drafting Committee.
• Giving the Steering Committee to Nehru or Patel: Austin describes it as meeting under Rajendra Prasad's chairmanship.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to Granville Austin's account, who chaired the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee of the Constituent Assembly?

  • (a)Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
  • (b)Acharya Kripalani
  • (c)B. R. Ambedkar
  • (d)Rajendra Prasad
  Answer(2) — Austin records that at the sub-committee's first meeting its members chose Kripalani as chairman. Option (1), Patel, chaired the parent Advisory Committee; option (3), Ambedkar, chaired the Drafting Committee; option (4), Prasad, chaired the Steering Committee.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Union Powers Committee of the Constituent Assembly, created in January 1947, worked under the chairmanship of

  • (a)Jawaharlal Nehru
  • (b)Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
  • (c)K. M. Munshi
  • (d)Mohammed Saadulla
  Answer(1) — Austin writes that the Assembly created a Union Powers Committee under Nehru's chairmanship in January 1947. Option (2), Patel, chaired the Advisory Committee. Options (3) and (4), Munshi and Saadulla, appear in Austin's list of Drafting Committee members.