Which one of the following said, “A Constitution, like a machine, is a lifeless thing. It acquires life because of the men who control it and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them”?

Correct — option (1), Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

The words come from Dr. Rajendra Prasad's closing speech as President of the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, the day the Assembly passed the Constitution.

The Constituent Assembly Debates for that day, in Parliament's digital library, record him saying:

"After all, a Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It acquires life because of the men who control it and operate it, and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them."

The stem's version drops "After all" and "and operate it", and sets "like a machine" between commas; the thought is the same.

The point of the passage: whatever the Constitution provides, the welfare of the country depends on the people who administer it. A good text needs honest men to work it.

The idea to remember: "a Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing" — Rajendra Prasad, 26 November 1949.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Jawahar Lal Nehru — Nehru was a leading member of the Assembly: Granville Austin records that the Union Powers Committee was created under his chairmanship in January 1947.

  The passage quoted in the stem is not his. It is from the concluding speech of the Assembly's President, Rajendra Prasad, on 26 November 1949.

• (3)
  Dr. B. R. Ambedkar — Ambedkar made a similar point in his own speech a day earlier, on 25 November 1949: "however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot."

  The machine image in the stem, though, is Rajendra Prasad's, from his speech of 26 November 1949. Both men tied a constitution's success to the people who work it.

• (4)
  Mahatma Gandhi — Mahatma Gandhi died on 30 January 1948, nearly two years before the Constituent Assembly's closing debate of November 1949 in which this passage was spoken.

  The words are from Rajendra Prasad's speech as President of the Assembly on 26 November 1949.

The quotation belongs to an argument about how constitutions work. Prasad said that whatever the Constitution may or may not provide, the welfare of the country will depend on the way it is administered, which depends on the men who administer it.

In the same speech he said that capable men of character and integrity "would be able to make the best even of a defective Constitution", and that if they are lacking, "the Constitution cannot help the country".

He also named two regrets: that no qualifications were laid down for members of the Legislatures, and that the first Constitution of a free Bharat was not drawn up in an Indian language.

Key facts

• Rajendra Prasad, as President of the Constituent Assembly, spoke on 26 November 1949: "a Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing".
• On 26 November 1949 the Assembly adopted the motion "That the Constitution as settled by the Assembly be passed".
• Prasad: the Constitution as passed had 395 articles and 8 schedules, against 243 articles and 13 schedules in B. N. Rau's original draft.
• B. R. Ambedkar, 25 November 1949: a good Constitution is sure to turn out bad if those called to work it happen to be a bad lot.
• Prasad's two regrets: no qualifications for legislators, and the Constitution not drawn up in an Indian language.

Common traps

• Giving every line about working the Constitution to Ambedkar: his 25 November speech made a similar point, but the machine image is Prasad's.
• Dismissing the stem because its wording differs slightly: the Debates read "After all, a Constitution like a machine" and "control it and operate it"; the stem drops "After all" and "and operate it".
• Placing Gandhi in the closing debate: he died on 30 January 1948, before the Constitution was passed.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In his speech of 26 November 1949, Dr. Rajendra Prasad said that the Constitution as passed had

  • (a)395 articles and 8 schedules
  • (b)395 articles and 12 schedules
  • (c)243 articles and 13 schedules
  • (d)315 articles and 8 schedules
  Answer(1) — Prasad said the Draft had come to have 395 articles and 8 schedules by the time it was passed. Option (3), 243 articles and 13 schedules, was B. N. Rau's original draft. Options (2) and (4) are not the figures he gave.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who said in the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949 that however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad if those called to work it happen to be a bad lot?

  • (a)Dr. Rajendra Prasad
  • (b)Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
  • (c)Jawaharlal Nehru
  • (d)Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
  Answer(2) — Ambedkar said this in his speech of 25 November 1949. Option (1), Prasad, spoke on 26 November about a Constitution being like a machine. Options (3) and (4) did not make this speech.