COMMITTEES OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees. 
The names of these committees and their chairmen are given below : 

Major Committees 
1. Union Powers Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru 
2. Union Constitution Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru 
3. Provincial Constitution Committee - Sardar Patel 
4. Drafting Committee - Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 
5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities - Sardar Patel. This committee had two sub-committes: 
(a) Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee - J.B. Kripalani 
(b) Minorities Sub-Committee - H.C. Mukherjee 
6. Rules of Procedure Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad 
7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) - Jawaharlal Nehru 
8. Steering Committee - Dr. Rajendra Prasad 

Minor Committees 
1. Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly - G.V. Mavalankar 
2. Order of Business Committee - Dr. K.M. Munshi 
3. House Committee - B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya 
4. Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag - Dr. Rajendra Prasad 
5. Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution - Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar 
6. Credentials Committee - Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar 
7. Finance and Staff Committee Sinha 
8. Hindi Translation Committee 
9. Urdu Translation Committee 
10. Press Gallery Committee 
11. Committee to Examine the Effect of Indian Independence Act of 1947 
12. Committee on Chief Commissioners' Provinces 
13. Commission on Linguistic Provinces 
14. Expert Committee on Financial Provisions 
15. Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court 

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 Miner 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.

IMPORTANT COMMITTEES OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY AND THEIR CHAIRMEN

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Name of the Committee                   Chairman

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Committee on the Rules of               Rajendra Prasad
Procedure

Steering Committee                      Rajendra Prasad

Finance and Staff Committee             Rajendra Prasad

Credential Committee                    Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar

House Committee                         B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya

Order of Business Committee             K.M. Munsi

Ad hoc Committee on the                 Rajendra Prasad
National Flag

Committee on the Functions of           G.V. Mavalankar
the Constituent Assembly

States Committee                        Jawaharlal Nehru

Advisory Committee on                   Vallabhbhai Patel
Fundamental Rights, Minorities
and Tribal and Excluded Areas

Minorities Sub-Committee                H.C. Mookherjee

Fundamental Rights                      J.B. Kripalani
Sub-Committee

North-East Frontier Tribal Areas        Gopinath Bardoloi
and Assam Exluded & Partially
Excluded Areas Sub-Committee

Excluded and Partially Excluded         A.V. Thakkar
Areas (Other than those in Assam)
Sub-Committee

Union Powers Committee                  Jawaharlal Nehru

Union Constitution Committee            Jawaharlal Nehru

Drafting Committee                      B.R. Ambedkar