Dr.

Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Invaluable Contribution

in the Making of the Indian Constitution1
Vivek Dhupdale2

Introduction:

“The third thing we must do is not be content with mere political

democracy. We must note that our political democracy cannot last
unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social
democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty,
equality and fraternity as the principles of life.”  
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Introduction:

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on 14th April 1891 at Mahu in Madhya Pradesh. He
was also known as Babasaheb. He once said, “Life should be great rather than long”. 3
Indeed, he had a great life as an Indian nationalist, jurist, social reformer, political leader,
activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist,
scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He campaigned against
social discrimination against the Dalits and has also supported the rights of women and the
labour community.  He was the Independent India’s first Law Minister and the chief architect
of the greatest book in the world, ‘The Constitution of India’.

I feel sad to mention here that inspite of being a multifaceted personality; Dr. Ambedkar is
still being branded by some people as a “Dalit Leader” who has performed only one job in
his life of uplifting the untouchables. They fail or rather purposely ignore to mention his
contributions in many other areas which had impacted the reformation of not only Dalits but
for each and every citizen of India belonging to every caste, community and religion. After
having lost his mother and being cared and brought up by his elder sister Meerabai; who
would have dreamed that a Dalit person could one day be instrumental in shaping the future
of India? We are indeed proud of such a marvelous personality. It is not sufficient for us only
to praise him on these occasions, but it is equally essential to pledge to inculcate and follow
his ideals and principles to lead a well-educated and informed life. Much has been spoken
and written about Dr. Ambedkar’s life and contribution by many great authors and thinkers,
my efforts of writing this paper would be only a drop in an ocean of knowledge. The present
paper is an attempt to highlight the life journey and one of his greatest contributions of gifting
us with the Law of the Land, The Constitution of India.

Having being born into a poor untouchable family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting
against social discrimination, the offshoot of the Indian Caste System. Due to his seminal role
in the framing of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar is popularly known all over
India as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. His efforts to eradicate social evils
1
A paper presented as a resource person on the auspicious occasion of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar, organized by The Shahaji Law College, Kolhapur on 11th March, 2016.
2
Shri. Vivek Yeshwant Dhupdale, I/c Head, Department of Law, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. (M)
9481370879, Email: vyd.law@unishivaji.ac.in.
3
5 Brilliant Quotes And Thoughts By Ambedkar – Ambedkar Quotes On Ambedkar Jayanti. Retrieved from:
http://inspire99.com/5-brilliant-quotes-and-thoughts-by-ambedkar-ambedkar-quotes-on-ambedkar-jayanti/.

1
were remarkable and that is why he is called the “messiah” of the Dalits and downtrodden in
India. Dr. Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.
The text prepared by Dr. Ambedkar provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a
wide range of civil liberties for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the
abolition of untouchability and outlawing all forms of discriminations. Dr. Ambedkar argued
for extensive economic and social rights for women, and also won the Constituent
Assembly’s support for introducing a system of reservations of jobs for members of the
Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (S.T.). Dr. Ambedkar kept the clauses of the
Constitution flexible so that amendments could be made as and when the situation demanded.
He provided an inspiring Preamble to the Constitution ensuring justice, social, economic and
political, liberty, equality and fraternity. The creation of an egalitarian social order, however,
remains an unfulfilled wishful thinking to this day.

Earlier Life of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar:

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s father’s name was Ramji Sakpal and he was married to Bhimabai
who was from murbadkar family. Ramji Sakpal had 14 children out of which Bhmrao was
their 14th child. Right from his childhood he started experiences the bitter truth of caste
discrimination. One summer day when he and his elder brother went to meet their father at
distant village named Gorgaon, the cart man in which they were travelling threw them out of
his cart in anger as he felt that his cart had got polluted. In another incident when Dr.
Ambedkar in his childhood was thirsty and was drinking water from a public water course.
The upper caste people saw this, and felt that he has polluted their drinking water and he was
beaten brutally by them.4

But all the Brahmins were not that bad. There were some who were very kind hearted to him.
For instance his teacher whose family name was Ambedkar loved Bhimrao so much that he
gave his name as Ambedkar to him. Dr. Bhimrao happily accepted the new family name
which was registered in the school register. From that moment onwards he was came to be
known as Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Education of B. R. Ambedkar:
Dr. Ambedkar was the first amongst the untouchables to be matriculated from the Elfinstone
High School of Mumbai in 1907. During his schooling he had to suffer untouchability
practice from his teachers and the classmates. Later on with lot of hardship he managed to
complete his college education. He completed his graduation in 1912, with the scholarship
from Raja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, the Maharaja of Baroda. Later on in 1913 he moved on to
abroad for his higher studies to the U.S.A. at the Columbia University. There was no
untouchability, no caste bar, no discriminations. All were equal and free. So the days there
were fun-filled. He Passed his M.A Degree in 1915.

In the year 1916, Dr. Ambedkar submitted his Ph.D. thesis entitled ‘National Divided for
India” A Historic and Analytical Study’. Dr. Ambedkar left Columbia University and joined
the London School of Economics and Political Science as a graduate student in the year 1916.
In the October of 1916, he joined Law in the Gray’s Inn in London. In 1920, Ambedkar
started a weekly paper ‘Mooknayak’ (Leader of the Dumb) to Champion the cause of the
Depressed Classes in India. In the year 1920, Ambedkar got qualified as a barrister from the

4
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Waiting for a Visa. Retrieved from: http://www.columbia.edu /itc/mealac/pritchett/0
0ambedkar/ txt_ambedkar_ waiting.html.

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Glay’s inn at London. In the year 1921, the University of London accepted his thesis
‘Provincial De-Centralization of Imperial Nuance in British India.’

In March, 1923, he submitted his thesis: ‘The Problem of the Rupee – Its Origin and Its
Solution’, for the degree of D.Sc. (Economics). The thesis was published in December, 1923,
by P.S. King and Company, London. This book had an introduction by Professor Cannan. Dr.
Ambedkar was called to the Bar in April 1923. In London he met E.S. Montage, Secretary of
State for India and Vithalbhai Patel, and had talks with them in respect of the grievances of
the untouchables in India. The University of Columbia had highly respected Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar by awarding him the honorary degree of LL.D. in the New York city of America
on 5th June, 1942. In India also the University of Osmaniya had gracefully honoured Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar, in the Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh by awarding the highest degree of
D.Litt. on the 12th January, 1953. In this way, the great Indian Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar had obtained B.A., M.A., Ph.D., M.Sc., D.Sc., Bar-at-Law, LL.D. and D.Lit
Degrees.

After his return to India in 1923 with degrees in Economics and Law, he had decided to do
his might for the upliftment of the down-trodden. He formed a “Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha”
(Outcastes Welfare Association). He believed in the Oneness of all as the Children of the God
and that all human beings are equal. He later joined the Indian Freedom Movement under
Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership and attended the Round Table Conference in 1932. There he
succeeded in securing separate constituencies for the untouchables. He was thus successful in
bringing to the notice of the world the plight of the untouchables.5

Reading hobby and Literary Work:

Dr. Ambedkar was an immense reader. Whenever he visited abroad, he collected large
number of books. Once, he had bought more than three thousand books from New York. He
had a personal library which he had named “Raj Griha”. Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar was fond
of writing too. He has a score of huge books dealing with numerous topics to his credit
ranging from politics to Buddhism, from castes in India to important Political figures in
India.6

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Contribution towards making of Indian

Constitution:
Dr. Ambedkar became the first Law Minister in free India. Everybody welcomed the Nehru
Cabinet; but there was a confusion as to what would be the future governance of India would
be like, and what should be the Constitution and who would shoulder the responsibility of
framing future of independent India on the path of peace, progress and prosperity. The
Britishers never accepted that India had the right or might to frame a constitution for them.
They therefore appointed the Simon Commission to find a modus operandi to find a solution
and the result was the formation of the Nehru Committee headed by Motilal Nehru and the
Nehru Report was the first frame-work in this direction.

Making the Indian Constitution was not an easy task for anybody. As the Indian Constitution
was longest in the world, it also took two years eleven months and eighteen days to complete
after a long Constitutional debate.
5
Dr. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji: The Man and His Message. Retrieved from: http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/
publication_ electronic/ Ambedkar.pdf.
6
Nayak Mahendra Kumar, Contribution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the Making of the Constitution of India.
Retrieved from: http://odisha.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2014/Jan/engpdf/11-15.pdf.

3
On 29th August, 1947 the Constitutent Assembly appointed the ‘Drafting Committee”
consisting of seven members by its resolution. The task assigned to this Committee was to
draft the Constitution of the independent India. Initially it was thought by Pandit Nehruji and
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to invite Sir Guor Jennings, the then internationally known
constitutional expert. But Mahatma Gandhi advised them not to do so instead he told them to
invite Dr. Ambedkar who was an outstanding legal and constitutional expert within India in
those days and Dr. Ambedkar was rightly deserved to it due to his excellent qualities such as
deep and vast study, tremendous knowledge, amazing command over English language,
expertness in explaining the subject and ideal patriotism. So the then first law Minister of
Independent India Dr. Ambedkar was accordingly appointed to be the Chairman of the
Drafting Committee. The members of the Drafting Committee included: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
– The Chairman, and the members were:  N. Goipalswami, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K.
M. Munshi, Saijio Mola Saadulla, N. Madhava Rao and  D. P. Khaitan.

Dr. Ambedkar was one of the very few Indian politicians who actively participated in the
discussions on Constitutional matters from the Monsford Reforms (1919) to the Cabinet
Mission (1946) proposals. He strongly believed that political independence cannot assure
either social solidarity or national integration in the absence of social justice. Being a
democratic socialist, he propagated that fundamental rights have little meaning to people in
the absence of social democracy. He strongly believed that political independence cannot
assure either social solidarity or national integration in the absence of social justice. Being a
democratic socialist, he propagated that fundamental rights have little meaning to people in
the absence of social democracy.

The Round Table Conference:

In 1932 the Round Table Conference in London was a landmark in the history of the
Indian Constitution. Being invited to discuss on constitutional matters Dr. Ambedkar
demanded independence and hoped that the people of India would be able to redress their
grievances by political power and this political power will come to them under the ‘Swaraj’
constitution. He advocated for a government which was a responsible government formed by
the representatives of the people. Dr. Ambedkar did not want to impose a Constitution on the
Indians, but he submitted that the opinion of the people about the manner in which they
desired to be governed must be accepted.

In the Round Table Conference he had succeeded to secure separate constituencies for the
untouchables. Gandhi was opposed to this as, in his idea, this would widen the divide. But,
later, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar was able to secure 184 seats for the Harijans in place of only
71. Under a pact in 1941, Ambedkar was included as a member of the Armed Forces
Committee. Thus he secured more placements for Mahars in the Armed Forces and in
forming a separate regiment for them. The Mahars were almost deprived of Higher Education
due to untouchability. So, in the memory of Lord Buddha, he established a College named
“Siddhartha College”.

Some glimpses of important concepts introduced by Dr. Ambedkar and his

team in the Constitution of India:
1. Abolishment of Untouchability:

4
Especially for the Mahars on the 20 th June, 1947 at the time of India’s Partition, Ambedkar
raised the question of the fate of the untouchables in the ceding regions. As a result, Sardar
Ballav Bhai Patel brought a bill in the Constituent Assembly on 29th April, 1947 which was
passed to make “ untouchability a Punishable Crime’. The Life-time struggle of Dr. Bhim
Rao Ambedkar became fruitful and the blot was done away with for good.7

2. Fundamental Rights:
Dr. Ambedkar was a champion of fundamental rights, and Part III of the Indian Constitution
guarantees the fundamental rights to the citizens against the state. Some of the fundamental
rights contained in Articles 15(2), 17, 23, and 24 are also enforceable against individuals as
they are very significant rights relating to the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth etc. The text prepared by Ambedkar provided
constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for individual
citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and outlawing all
forms of discrimination. Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for
women.

3. Parliamentary Democracy:
Dr Ambedkar was a strong advocate of the parliamentary form of government right from the
inception of the Government of India Act of 1935. He firmly believed that the parliamentary
system of government alone can usher in an egalitarian society through the application of the
principles of social democracy. Dr Ambedkar’s social democracy comprised politicians,
political parties with high standards of political morality, honesty and integrity and strong and
highly responsible Opposition party or parties committed to the cause of the downtrodden
and depressed classes. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution echoes the principles of
parliamentary democracy.

4. Concept of Federalism:
This concept meant that the State was a federal in normal circumstances, but may take the
form of Unitary in emergency situations. This was introduced with sole object of making the
Union Government at the centre stronger than the States to maintain unity and intergrity of
the nation. After opposition, Dr. Ambedkar said that he made the centre strong not only is to
save minorities from the misrule, but also for it only the centre which can work for a common
end and for the general interests of the country as a whole.

5. Equality of opportunity:
In the Draft Constitution the Fundamental Rights were justifiable in the Court of Law.
Amongst all the rights, Dr. Ambedkar regarded “Equality of Opportunity” as the most
important right. He also characterized Article 32 as the very soul of the Constitution and the
very heart of it.8 For, fundamental rights would mean establishment of equality and liberty in
order to reform our social system, which is so full of inequalities discriminations.

6. Protective Discrimination/Reservation:
The real contribution of Dr. Ambedkar is reflected in the protective discrimination scheme or
the reservation policy of the government envisaged under some provisions of Part III and
many of Part IV dealing with the constitutional mandate to ameliorate the condition of the
7
Ibid.
8
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: The Father of Indian Constitution. Retrieved from: http://www. legalservicesindia.
com/article /article/ dr-b-r-ambedkar- the- father-of-indian-constitution- 1609-1.html.

5
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the other backward classes. Provisions like
Article 17 prohibiting untouchability, Article 30 dealing with the protection of minorities are
some of the notable examples. Dr. Ambedkar made it his life’s mission to uplift the
untouchables and other downtrodden masses from the unequal position of inferiority to that
of equal position of parity in socio-economic status with high-caste Hindus. For achieving
this goal the reservation policy or the scheme of protective discrimination was advocated and
implemented by him.

7. State Socialism:
Dr. Ambedkar advocated his economic doctrine of “state socialism” in the draft Constitution.
He proposed state ownership of agriculture with a collectivised method of cultivation and a
modified form of state socialism in the field of industry. But due to strong opposition in the
Constitution Assembly, he could not incorporate his scheme of state socialism under the
fundamental rights as a part of the Constitution.

8. Directive Principles of State Policy:

These contained the positive obligations of the State towards its citizens. They meant to
ensure social and economic democracy which was secured by the provisions of Part III of the
Constitution.

9. National Integration:
In the Draft Constitution Dr. Ambedkar prescribed single citizenship, a single judiciary and
uniformity in fundamental Laws to integrate Indian society which was divided into caste and
class, regions, religions, languages, traditions and cultures. Therefore, a strong Centre was
need of the hour at that time in order to maintain territorial and administrative discipline.

10. Article 370:

When Nehru directed Sheikh Abdullah to consult Ambedkar (then Law Minister) to prepare
the draft of a suitable article to be included in the Constitution, Ambedkar refused to
oblige. His words on the occasion are worth their weight in gold, “You want India to defend
Kashmir, feed its people, undertake its all-round development and give Kashmiris
equal rights all over the country. But you do not want the rest of India and Indians (to have)
equal rights in Kashmir. I am (the) Law Minister of India, I cannot betray my country.”9 
Article 370 was drafted by Gopalaswami Iyengar, a State Minister. Under Article 370 the
Indian Parliament cannot increase or reduce the borders of the state.

The Final Announcement:

The first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, praised the services rendered by Dr
Ambedkar in the making of the Constitution and said: “I have carefully watched the day-to-
day activities from the presidential seat. Therefore, I appreciate more than others with how
much dedication and vitality this task has been carried out by the Drafting Committee and by

9
Varshney Neer, Why did Dr. B.R Ambedkar refuse to draft Artcle 370 in the constitution?. Retrieved from:
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Dr-B-R-Ambedkar-refuse-to-draft-Artcle-370-in-the-constitution.

6
its chairman Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in particular. We never did a better thing than having
Dr Ambedkar on the Drafting Committee and selecting him as its chairman.”10

On the 26th November, 1949 Dr. Rajendra Prasad, expressed great pleasure in announcing the
success of the Constitution Assembly for successfully drafting the commendable constitution
and expressed confidence that it would be effective enough to fulfill the needs of Indian
subcontinent. However, he opined that the success of a Constitution will depend much on the
ability, integrity and character of the elected representatives. If they lack these qualities, the
constitution may be a failure in delivering the goods.

The Columbia University at its Special convocation on June 5, 1952 conferred the LL.D.
degree (Honoris Causa) on Dr. Ambedkar in recognition of his drafting the Constitution of
India. The citation read: The degree is being conferred in recognition of the work done by
him in connection with the drafting of India’s Constitution. The University hailed him as
“one of India’s leading citizens, a great social reformer and valiant upholder of human
rights”.11

In 1948, Dr Ambedkar presented the draft Constitution before the people of India; it was
adopted on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly in the name of the people of
India and came into force on January 26, 1950 marking the beginning of a new era in the
history of India. Speaking after the completion of his work, Ambedkar said: “I feel the
Constitution is workable; it is flexible and it is strong enough to hold the country together
both in peace time and in war time.” 12 It has been in effect since January 26, 1950, which is
celebrated as the Republic Day in India.

Babasaheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s speech in the Assembly on 25 th November, 1949 is
remarkable; he said, “The constitution, I offered may be good or bad, it will depend on how
the men in office use it”. It means, “However good a Constitution may be, if the executors
fail to deliver, it may prove to be a bad one, and if the executors are good enough, however
bad the constitution may be, it will definitely prove to be good.”

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Other Contributions:

1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was conceptualized by the guidelines from his book
"Problem of Rupee; its origin and its solutions''.
2. Established finance commission of india.
3. To empower women at that time, he presented Hindu Code Bill in the parliament but
it was opposed by almost every male member of parliament (including Nehru and
Sardar Patel). If it was allowed to be passed, it would have ended Saiti Pratha,
Dowry system in 1951 only. After the bill lapsed, he resigned. (the draft also
included divorce rights to women, portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving
widows complete property rights.).

10
Dr Ambedkar: Architect of the Indian Constitution. Retrieved from: http:// www. mainstreamweekly. Net /
article2699.html.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.

7
4. As Labour Minister in the Viceroy’s Council, he successfully led the struggle for
reduction of work from 12 hours a day to 8 hours in 1942.
5. He contributed the idea of setting up of Employment Exchanges in India.
6. He was responsible for establishing the Central Technical Power Board, the National
Power Grid System and the Central Water Irrigation and Navigation Commission.
7. He played an important role in the establishment of the Damodar Valley project,
Hirakud project and Sone river project.
8. He also Rejected to draft article 370. 

Conclusion:
Dr Ambedkar’s drafting of the Indian Constitution has enabled the abolition of untouchability
and the outlawing of all forms of discriminations. Due to all these outstanding contributions
Dr Ambedkar can be rightly called the architect of the Indian Constitution. None-theless, it is
an undeniable fact that Dr Ambedkar’s dream of the creation of an egalitarian social order
still remains unfulfilled despite the extended period of reservation for SCs and STs. He gave
a shape to our country of a complete Sovereign, Democratic and Republic based on adult
franchise. The acceptance of the constitution on the January 26, 1950 is no less a tribute to
the trials and tribulations undergone by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, who dedicated,
with determination, his all to treat the ailing India for a healthy and rejuvenated life of
endless embankment into the future. Thus, Dr. Ambedkar’s contribution to the
Indian Constitution is undoubtedly of the highest order. Indeed he deserved to be called the
“father or the Chief Architect” of the Indian Constitution.