After centuries of slavery, India attained independence on August 15, 1947. Undoubtedly, this marked the beginning of a new era. At this time the nascent nation was facing many serious problems. In these, the problems of refugees and integration of princely states were prominent. After the partition of India, a large number of refugees were coming to India from Pakistan. The Government of India took several steps to rehabilitate these refugees. As a result, this problem could be dealt with appropriately. Iron man Sardar Patel made valuable contribution for the integration of princely states. Various steps had to be taken to include the princely states of Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir in the Indian Union. Ultimately all these efforts were successful and India emerged in its present shape.
Another major challenge before India after independence was the framing of its constitution. For this purpose, the Constituent Assembly was formed in July, 1946. It had a total of 389 members. The Congress dominated these members. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made the permanent chairman of the Constituent Assembly and BR Ambedkar the chairman of the drafting committee. 6 members — Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, BR Ambedkar, KM Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer made significant contributions in drafting the constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru presented the objective resolution in the Constituent Assembly on December 13, 1946. In this the outline of the basic ideals of the constitution was presented. In the Constituent Assembly, long and complicated debates took place on various subjects in the drafting of the Constitution. In these debates, a lot of debate took place on the issue of separate electorate, the powers of the state and the language of the nation. After tireless efforts of about 3 years, the Constituent Assembly succeeded in framing the Indian Constitution. This constitution was approved by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949. This constitution was implemented on January 26, 1950 AD. No doubt it was a great success of India. It served as a milestone for the bright future of India.
NEW NATION STATE
India attained independence on August 15, 1947. There were many serious challenges before the nascent nation. Lakhs of refugees were coming to India from Pakistan due to the partition of India. on law and order in the country To maintain control, it was absolutely necessary to control this problem. The problem of integration of the princely states was another serious problem. Finding a quick solution to this formidable problem for the unity of India were required.
1. Rehabilitation of Refugees
The incidents of looting, arson, murders, kidnapping and rape that took place during the partition of India in 1947 cannot be described in words. Even small children were not spared. They were either killed mercilessly or were forcibly converted to Islam. There was an atmosphere of chaos all around. About 1 crore Hindus and Sikhs reached India as refugees and 5 million Muslims went to Pakistan. Lakhs of women, men and children were killed in the riots that broke out during the partition. Because of this a large number of women became widows and children became orphans. Apart from these, a large number of women and children were missing. Therefore, before the Government of India there was a serious problem of rehabilitating refugees and searching for missing women and children. The Government of India took the following steps to rehabilitate the refugees-
1. Refugee Camps –
The Government of India first established the Rehabilitation Department to deal with the problem of refugees. This department set up refugee camps at Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Ambala to take care of the refugees. Refugees were looked after in these camps until permanent accommodation was arranged for them. The biggest refugee camp was set up in Kurukshetra. There was arrangement for the accommodation of 5 lakh refugees. This camp was linked with other subsidiary camps. A rescue home was established in Jalandhar for the special care of women.
2. Evacuation of Abducted Women and Children —
During the partition, a large number of women and children were abducted and kept in West and East Punjab. He was forcibly married and converted. Many women and children were sold in the market. For the purpose of their rehabilitation, an agreement was signed between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on September 3, 1947. According to this agreement, it was decided that forced marriage or religious conversion would not be accepted. All such women and children should be returned to each other. Cooperation should be obtained from the local police and social service organizations for their search. Therefore, the government made proper arrangements for the rehabilitation of the women and children who were discovered in this way.
3. Resettlement of Landlords –
The Sikh and Hindu landlords who came to East Punjab from West Punjab had to suffer heavy losses. They left behind 67 lakh acres of cultivable land in West Punjab. The total cultivable land in East Punjab was 47 lakh acres. In this way, how to divide the cultivable land among the zamindars, it was a big problem before the government. Second, the Punjab government did not have any proof of the land demanded by the zamindars. So the government made a plan. According to him, more deductions were made from the land given to big zamindars and less deductions were made from the land of small zamindars. For example, zamindars who came to West Punjab leaving 5000 acres of land were given only 376.5 acres of land. Those who left 500 acres were given 126 acres, those who left 30 acres were given 21 acres and those who left 10 acres were given 7.5 acres. Due to this the big landowners had to suffer heavy losses.
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The Making of Constitution (Part 1) (ancientmodernhistory.gq)