The Nehru Report (1928), prepared by a committee headed by Motilal Nehru, was mainly concerned with:

The Nehru Report (1928) was an outline of a constitutional framework for India, prepared by a committee of the All-Parties Conference headed by Motilal Nehru.

Background:

• The British Secretary of State, Lord Birkenhead, had challenged Indians to produce a constitution acceptable to all parties.
• In response, an All-Parties Conference was held in 1928, and it appointed a committee to draft a constitution.
• The committee was headed by Motilal Nehru, and Jawaharlal Nehru was its secretary.
• The report was finalised in August 1928.

Main recommendations of the Nehru Report:

• India should be given Dominion Status (self-government within the British Commonwealth), like Canada and Australia.
• India should be a federation, with a strong central government and residuary powers vested in the centre.
• There should be no separate electorates; instead, there should be joint electorates with reservation of seats for Muslims at the centre and in provinces where they were a minority, and not where they were a majority.
• There should be a list of fundamental rights, including equal rights for women, the right to form unions, and universal adult franchise.
• Provinces should be formed on a linguistic basis.
• There should be full protection of the cultural and religious interests of the Muslims.
• The state should be secular, with no state religion.

Reactions:

• The Muslim League, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, rejected the report, as it did not accept separate electorates and the demand for one-third representation at the centre.
• Jinnah then put forward his "Fourteen Points" (1929).
• Young Congress leaders, such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, were unhappy with the goal of Dominion Status, and wanted complete independence.
• At the Lahore session (1929), the Congress adopted the goal of Purna Swaraj.

Significance:

• The Nehru Report was the first major attempt by Indians to draft a constitution for their country.
• Its list of fundamental rights influenced the Fundamental Rights in the Constitution of India.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Nehru Report did not deal with economic planning, land reform or education as its main subject.