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First Nehru ministry

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First Nehru ministry

1st ministry of the Dominion of India
The cabinet of India on 31 January 1950, along with the newly appointed President Rajendra Prasad.(L to R sitting) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Sardar Baldev Singh, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Dr. John Mathai, Shri Jagjivan Ram, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Dr. S. P. Mukherjee. (L to R standing) Khurshed Lal, R.R. Diwakar, Mohanlal Saksena, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, N.V. Gadgil, K. C. Neogy, Jairamdas Daulatram, K. Santhanam, Satya Narayan Sinha and Dr. B. V. Keskar.
Date formed15 August 1947 (1947-08-15)
Date dissolved15 April 1952 (1952-04-15)
People and organisations
Head of stateLord Mountbatten (Governor-General)
(15 August 1947 – 21 June 1948)
C. Rajagopalachari (Governor-General)
(21 June 1948 – 26 January 1950)
Rajendra Prasad (President)
(from 26 January 1950)
Head of governmentJawaharlal Nehru
Deputy head of governmentVallabhbhai Patel (until 15 December 1950)
Member partyIndian National Congress
Status in legislatureMajority
Opposition partyNone
Opposition leaderNone
History
Election1946
Outgoing election1951
Legislature terms4 years and 8 months
PredecessorNone
SuccessorSecond Nehru ministry

After independence, on 15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru assumed office as the first Prime Minister of India and chose fifteen ministers to form the First Nehru ministry.

Background

The Constituent Assembly was set up while India was still under British rule, following negotiations between Indian leaders and members of the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India from the United Kingdom. The provincial assembly elections had been conducted early in 1946. The Constituent Assembly members were elected to it indirectly by the members of these newly elected provincial assemblies, and initially included representatives for those provinces which came to form part of Pakistan, some of which are now within Bangladesh. The Constituent Assembly had 299 representatives, including nine women.

The Interim Government of India was formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly. The Indian National Congress held a large majority in the Assembly, with 69 percent of all of the seats, while the Muslim League held almost all of the seats reserved in the Assembly for Muslims. There were also some members from smaller parties, such as the Scheduled Caste Federation, the Communist Party of India, and the Unionist Party. In June 1947, the delegations from the provinces of Sindh, East Bengal, Baluchistan, West Punjab, and the North West Frontier Province withdrew, to form the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, meeting in Karachi. On 15 August 1947, the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan became independent nations, and the members of the Constituent Assembly who had not withdrawn to Karachi became India's Parliament. Only 28 members of the Muslim League finally joined the Indian Assembly. Later, 93 members were nominated from the princely states. The Congress thus secured a majority of 82%.

Jawaharlal Nehru took charge as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947, and chose 15 other members for his cabinet. Vallabhbhai Patel served as the first Deputy Prime Minister until his death on 15 December 1950. Lord Mountbatten, and later C. Rajagopalachari, served as Governor-General until 26 January 1950, when Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of India.[1] [2]

Cabinet members

Lord Mountbatten swears in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947.

There were members from Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities. There were two members from the Dalit caste as well.[3][4][5][6] Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was the only female Cabinet minister. The following is a list of the ministers in the first Cabinet.[1]

Key
  • † Died in office
  • RES Resigned
Portfolio Minister Took office Left office Party
Prime Minister
Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
Minister of Scientific Research		15 August 1947Second Nehru ministry INC
Deputy Prime Minister15 August 194715 December 1950[†] INC
Minister of Home Affairs and States
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
15 August 194715 December 1950[†] INC
26 December 195025 October 1951[RES] INC
1951Second Nehru ministry INC
Minister of Information and Broadcasting
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
15 August 19471949 INC
194915 April 1952 INC
Minister of Finance15 August 19471949 INC
19491950[RES] INC
1950Second Nehru ministry INC
Minister of Law15 August 19471951[RES] INC
Minister of Defence15 August 1947Second Nehru ministry INC
Minister of Railways and Transport
John Mathai
15 August 194722 September 1948 INC
22 September 1948Second Nehru ministry INC
Minister of Education15 August 1947Second Nehru ministry INC
Minister of Food and Agriculture15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Industries and Supplies15 August 19476 April 1950[RES] INC
Minister of Labour15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Commerce15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Communications15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Health15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Works, Mines and Power15 August 194715 April 1952 INC
Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation15 August 1947April 1950[RES] INC
Minister without portfolio
N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar[10]
15 August 194722 September 1948 INC
15 August 194715 April 1952 INC

References

  1. ^ a b Krishna, Ananth V. (2011). India Since Independence: Making Sense Of Indian Politics. India: Pearson Education India. pp. 34–36. ISBN 9788131734650. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. ^ Ramachandra Guha, "India After Gandhi", Picador India, 2007. ISBN 978-0-330-39610-3
  3. ^ vignesh venkatesan (2010-08-25). "DARE TO READ: India's first cabinet". Thevkyblog.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  4. ^ "The first Central Cabinet of Independent India". Spiderkerala.net. 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  5. ^ "The New Cabinet". Hindustan Times. 15 August 1947. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  6. ^ "New Cabinet of India". Times of India. 15 August 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  7. ^ http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/BDGqZmHMQlGbEuUT7jdObK/Dj-View--The-Chetty-affair.html
  8. ^ Template:PDFlink
  9. ^ http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/BDGqZmHMQlGbEuUT7jdObK/Dj-View--The-Chetty-affair.html
  10. ^ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/article-370-issue-omar-abdullah-jammu-and-kashmir-jawaharlal-nehru/1/364053.html

Further reading

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