It would have been difficult for the Constituent Assembly to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years but for the experience gained with the Government of India Act, 1935. Discuss.
Based on 28 evaluated answers to this question on CollectorBabu: here is what aspirants most often missed, the mistakes that cost marks, and a model answer.
What most aspirants missed
- Specific provisions borrowed from the 1935 Act, such as the federal scheme, Governor's office, emergency provisions (Section 93 to Article 356), Federal Court to Supreme Court and Public Service Commissions.
- How the tested operation of provincial autonomy from 1937 reduced trial and error in drafting Centre-State relations.
- The Instrument of Instructions as a precursor to the Directive Principles of State Policy.
- Key departures: abolition of communal electorates, universal adult franchise, rejection of dyarchy and a parliamentary rather than dominion model.
- The role of the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 in linking the 1935 framework to the Assembly's formation.
- Financial provisions, including the distribution of taxes and grants that informed Part XII.
Common mistakes
- Listing borrowed provisions without explaining how they saved time, which is the crux of the question.
- Describing the 1935 Act as a source of fundamental rights, which it did not have.
- Giving generic comparisons with other constitutions without naming what was borrowed from where.
- Ignoring the limits of the 1935 Act and the critical examination the question invites.
- Confusing the White Paper with the 1935 Act, which was British Parliament legislation based on it.
What the better answers did
- Explaining that the Act provided a tested federal and administrative model, so drafters adapted rather than invented.
- Citing specific sections and articles, such as Section 93 to Article 356 and the Federal Court to the Supreme Court.
- Discussing both borrowings and deliberate departures, such as dyarchy rejected and parliamentary government adopted.
- Linking the Cabinet Mission Plan and the 1935 franchise to the Assembly's formation.
Introduction
Open by stating that the 1935 Act, the longest British statute for India, gave the Assembly a tested federal and administrative blueprint that it could adapt.
Conclusion
Close by stressing that the Act saved time by supplying working institutions, leaving the Assembly to debate and reshape the contentious issues.
Model answer
The Government of India Act, 1935, the longest statute the British Parliament enacted for India, gave the Constituent Assembly a tested working model of federal government, provincial administration and public services. Its provincial autonomy functioned from 1937 to 1939 and again after 1946, so the Assembly could adapt proven machinery instead of designing it from scratch.
How the 1935 Act eased the task
- The federal scheme and the division of legislative powers into Federal, Provincial and Concurrent Lists were carried into the Seventh Schedule.
- The Governor's office and the emergency scheme were adapted: Section 93 (breakdown of provincial machinery) became Article 356, and Part XVIII drew on the Act's emergency framework.
- The Federal Court (1937) became the model for the Supreme Court, and the Federal Public Service Commission became the Union Public Service Commission under Article 315.
- Financial arrangements on distribution of taxes and grants shaped Part XII (Articles 268 to 293).
- The Instrument of Instructions to Governors anticipated the Directive Principles of State Policy, as Ambedkar acknowledged.
Experience and the Cabinet Mission Plan
- Members who had served in provincial legislatures and ministries brought practical knowledge of how federal and provincial arrangements worked in practice.
- The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 provided for the Assembly to be elected through provincial assemblies, which had been constituted under the 1935 franchise and framework.
Limits and deliberate departures
- The Assembly rejected dyarchy, reserved subjects and the Governor's special responsibilities, which were limitations of the 1935 scheme.
- Communal electorates were abolished and universal adult franchise adopted, replacing the restricted franchise of 1935.
- A parliamentary system at the Centre replaced the dominion model envisaged under the 1935 Act.
The 1935 Act saved time by supplying tested institutions, so the Assembly's three years went into adaptation, debate on contentious issues and innovation, rather than into designing a government from first principles.
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