Of the many committees set up by the Constituent Assembly, how many are usually counted as its major committees?

The Constituent Assembly appointed a large number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Of these, eight were major committees and the rest were minor committees. The book answer of 13 does not match the standard count.

The eight major committees and their chairmen:

• Union Powers Committee.
• Union Constitution Committee.
• Provincial Constitution Committee: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Drafting Committee: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

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

Minor committees:

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

Total number:

Counting the major committees, minor committees and sub-committees, the Assembly had around 22 committees.

How the committees worked:

• The committees studied different parts of the Constitution in detail and submitted reports.
• The reports were discussed in the Assembly, and their recommendations were sent to the Drafting Committee.
• The Drafting Committee, set up on 29 August 1947, prepared the Draft Constitution.

The Drafting Committee:

It had seven members. They included Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K.M. Munshi and Mohammad Saadulla, and later T.T. Krishnamachari, who replaced D.P. Khaitan after his death.

The Draft Constitution was published in February 1948.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Twenty-two is the approximate total of all the committees, not of the major ones.
• ✗Five and thirteen do not match the standard classification.