Cabinet Mission Plan

Also called: Cabinet Mission 1946 · Topic: Making of the Constitution: Constituent Assembly, Sources and Salient Features · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Constitution: Why and How?"

Meaning

The Cabinet Mission Plan was the set of proposals made in 1946 by three British Cabinet ministers for India's future. It was announced on 16 May 1946. It planned a three-tier federation with a weak Union, and it set up the Constituent Assembly (the body that would write India's Constitution) and decided how its members would be chosen [3][4].

It matters because the Plan fixed the Assembly's size, its seat shares and its method of election. This is why the body that wrote our Constitution was indirectly elected and partly nominated, not elected by all adults.

Explanation

Who made it and why

• Cabinet Mission: a committee of three British Cabinet members sent to India in 1946. Class 11 NCERT calls it a "committee of the British cabinet" [3].
• Lord Pethick-Lawrence: Secretary of State for India.
• Sir Stafford Cripps: President of the Board of Trade.

• A.V. Alexander: First Lord of the Admiralty.

• Why it was issued: Indian political parties could not agree among themselves. So the Mission and the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, issued the Plan together as a statement on 16 May 1946 [3].

• Main drafter: Cripps wrote most of the Plan [4].

The three-tier federation

• Federation: a system where power is shared between a central government and its units. The Plan had three tiers: the Union, groups of provinces, and the provinces [4].
• A weak Union: it would handle only foreign affairs, defence and communications, plus the money needed for them [4].
• Grouping of provinces [4]:
• Group A: Hindu-majority provinces.
• Group B: Muslim-majority provinces in the west.
• Group C: Bengal and Assam.

How Constituent Assembly seats were shared

• Basis: roughly by population, at one seat for every ten lakh (1 million) people.
• Seat break-up (total 389):
• 292 for the governor's provinces.
• 4 for the chief commissioners' provinces.

• 93 (at most) for the princely states.

• British India's share: 292 + 4 = 296. Only these seats were filled in the 1946 elections.

• Community-wise division: each province's seats were split among three communities, general, Muslim and Sikh, by their share of the population.
• "General" meant everyone who was not a Muslim or a Sikh.

Method of election and its limits

• Indirect election: the people did not vote directly. Members of the provincial legislative assemblies chose the Assembly's members [2].
• Voting by community: Muslim members of a provincial assembly elected the Muslim representatives. Sikh members elected the Sikh ones. General members elected the general ones.

• Proportional representation by single transferable vote (PR-STV): a voting method that gives each group seats in line with its voting strength. 1. Each voter ranks candidates in order: 1, 2, 3 and so on. 2. A candidate who reaches the fixed quota of votes is elected. 3. Surplus votes (votes beyond the quota) pass to the voter's next choice. 4. So smaller groups can still win some seats.

• Princely states: their members were to be chosen "by consultation". In practice the rulers nominated them. They joined the Assembly gradually from 1947.

• Limits:
• The provincial assemblies had been elected on a limited franchise under the Government of India Act, 1935. Only people with property, tax-paying or education qualifications could vote.
• So the Assembly was not elected by universal adult franchise (a vote for every adult).

In the Constitution and practice

• Legal place: the Plan is not part of the Constitution. It is the source of the Constituent Assembly that wrote the Constitution. The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.
• Background, 1945–46 provincial elections: the Muslim League won all 30 Muslim seats in the Central Legislative Assembly and most Muslim seats in the provinces. Congress won most general seats, but it could no longer claim to speak for all of British India [5].
• Constituent Assembly elections, July–August 1946 (296 seats):
• Congress 208.
• Muslim League 73.

• Small groups and independents 15.

• League boycott: the League opposed calling the Assembly. It announced its boycott officially on 22 November 1946 [6].

• First sitting, 9 December 1946: held in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi, which is now the Central Hall of Parliament House. The League stayed away [7].
• Dr Sachchidananda Sinha chaired as provisional President (a temporary chair until a permanent one is elected) because he was the oldest member [7].
• Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected President on 11 December 1946.

• Vice-Presidents: H.C. Mookerjee and V.T. Krishnamachari. Constitutional Adviser: Sir B.N. Rau.

• After Partition: the 3 June 1947 Plan (Mountbatten Plan) accepted Partition. Members from areas going to Pakistan stopped being members.

• Strength fell to 299: 229 from provinces and 70 from princely states [2].

• Lasting effect:

• The weak centre and grouping scheme was dropped once Partition happened. The Assembly was then free to build a strong centre.
• The Assembly finished its work in 2 years, 11 months, over 11 sessions and 166 days [2].

Don't confuse with

• Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947): it accepted Partition. The Cabinet Mission Plan tried to keep India united, using a weak Union and groups of provinces.
• Universal adult franchise: a vote for every adult. The Assembly under the Cabinet Mission Plan was indirectly elected by provincial assemblies that had themselves been chosen on a limited 1935-Act franchise.
• Members of the Mission vs other officials: Lord Wavell issued the Plan jointly with the Mission but was not a member. Attlee was not a member either. The three members were Pethick-Lawrence, Cripps and A.V. Alexander [3].
• "Formed" vs first sitting: NCERT Class 7 says the Assembly was "formed" on 9 December 1946. More exactly, the Cabinet Mission Plan created the Assembly in 1946, and 9 December 1946 was its first sitting [2].

Prelims Hooks

• Cabinet Mission had three members: Pethick-Lawrence (Secretary of State for India), Stafford Cripps (President of the Board of Trade) and A.V. Alexander (First Lord of the Admiralty). Trap: Attlee and Wavell were not members [3].
• Seat ratio was one seat per 10 lakh people. Total 389 = 292 provinces + 4 chief commissioners' provinces + 93 princely states.
• Each province's seats were divided among general, Muslim and Sikh communities only. There was no separate category for Scheduled Castes or Christians.
• Election method: indirect, by provincial assemblies, using PR-STV. Princely-state members were chosen "by consultation", which in practice meant nomination by rulers.
• 1946 results for the 296 British-India seats: Congress 208, Muslim League 73, others 15.
• Union subjects under the Plan: only foreign affairs, defence and communications. Provinces were grouped into A, B and C [4].

Mains Points

• Minority protection vs national unity (GS-I/GS-II):
• PR-STV and community-wise seats protected minorities inside each province.
• But the weak centre and grouping of provinces encouraged communal blocs. The grouping disputes led to the League's boycott (announced 22 November 1946) [6].

• Partition later freed the Assembly to build a strong centre.

• Legitimacy of an indirectly elected Assembly (GS-II):

• The weakness: it was elected on a limited 1935-Act franchise, its princely members were nominated, and the League stayed away.

• The defence: it held "almost all shades of opinion", including 28 Scheduled Caste members and 15 women. Congress itself was a broad coalition. Its debates were open, and it decided by consensus (broad agreement) [2].

• What if all adults had voted? (GS-II, from the NCERT cartoon question):

• Gains: the Assembly could have had greater legitimacy, and perhaps more women and Dalit members.
• Risk: in 1946, a mass vote could have led to more divided, communal campaigning.

Related concepts

• Composition of the Constituent Assembly
• Constituent Assembly

Read more

• The Cabinet Mission and the composition of the Constituent Assembly