Cabinet Mission Plan 1946

Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946 was the proposal made by the Cabinet Mission, which was appointed by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee with Sir Pethick Lawrence (Secretary of State) as its chairman and A.V. Alexander and Sir Stafford Cripps as other members. The Cabinet Mission was sent to India to set up a framework for peaceful transfer of power to the people of India through the creation of a federal system, giving substantial autonomy to the provinces and ensuring the concerns of different communities, especially Muslims, so that India's unity could be maintained. It was also given the task of developing a mechanism for drafting a Constitution for India.

The plan failed to materialize because of opposition from the princely states and some regional parties, as well as differences of opinion between the Congress party and the Muslim League regarding the composition of the Constituent Assembly and the protection of minority rights. Although the Cabinet Mission was unable to resolve the conflicts among various parties, it played a key role in leading the negotiations that laid the foundation for India's independence and partition in 1947. It marked a major step towards ending the colonial rule of the British in India.

Proposals of Cabinet Mission Plan

The main proposals of Cabinet Mission Plan are:

• Unity of India should be retained and the demand for formation of full fledged Pakistan should be rejected for a number of reasons like presence of large number of non-Muslim population in the proposed regions of Pakistan, predominantly Hindu-dominated western part of Bengal and Hindu- and Sikh-dominated Jalandhar and Ambala divisions of Punjab. Similarly, this proposal also took into account the potential economic and administrative problems that could arise from dividing Pakistan into Western and Eastern parts, as well as the potential dangers of dividing the armed forces.
  
  
• All India Federation should be created with strong provinces and weak Centre, whose powers were to be confined to currency, defence, foreign affairs and communications. Provinces should be having complete autonomy and residual powers.
  
  
• The proposal divided the provinces into 3 groups for the purpose of representation and decision-making. The Groups comprised of Hindu-dominated Central & South provinces called Group A provinces, Muslim-dominated Western provinces called Group B provinces and the Muslim-dominated Eastern provinces called Group C provinces. Group A provinces comprised of United Provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, Bombay and Madras. Group B provinces comprised of Sindh, Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Group C provinces comprised of Assam and Bengal.
  
  
• The Cabinet Mission Plan proposed the creation of three-tier Legislative and Executive bodies at the Centre, Provincial Groupings and Provinces.
  
  
• A Constituent Assembly should be created to frame the Constitution. The Constituent Assembly members should be elected by the members of the Provincial Assemblies through proportional representation. Out of 389 members of the Constituent Assembly, 292 were to be elected from the British Provinces, 93 members were to be nominated from the Princely States and the remaining 4 members were to be taken from Chief Commissioner's Provinces.
  
  
• Princely States would hold all the powers and subjects except those ceded to the Centre.
  
  
• An interim government should be formed at the Centre until the Constitution is framed. It should be a coalition government.
  
  
• The plan emphasized for protecting the rights of minorities, especially the rights of Muslims in Hindu-dominated areas and Hindus in Muslim-majority areas.

Reactions to the Cabinet Mission Plan

• The Congress called for a strong Center but the Cabinet Mission in its Plan offered a weak Central Government.
  
  
• The Congress Party opposed the grouping of Provinces on the basis of religion, whereas the Muslim League supported it. The Congress insisted that the Provinces be given the choice to join or not to join the Groups.
  
  
• The Muslim League was of the opinion that no aspect of the Plan should be changed. It viewed the grouping as something that is inferred of creating Pakistan. It believed that Groups B and C could become strong entities that would eventually break away to become Pakistan.
  
  
• In the Cabinet Mission Plan, there was no provision for elected representatives from the Princely States into the constituent assembly. It was not acceptable to the Congress. It held that representatives from Princely States should be chosen by popular vote rather than nominated by the princes.
  
  
• Ultimately, on June 6, 1946, the Muslim League accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan, and on June 24, 1946, the Congress did the same. However, the Muslim League later backed out of the Plan.
  
  
• The Muslim League anticipated that if Congress rejected the Plan, the British would then ask the League to form an interim government. However, the Constituent Assembly's proceedings started and Governor General Lord Wavell began the process of forming an interim government with Jawaharlal Nehru as the prime minister. At this juncture, Muslim League gave a call for "Direct Action Day" on August 16, 1946 in Calcutta to demonstrate the strength of Muslim feeling towards the demand for separate Pakistan. It is also called Great Calcutta Killings. In 3 days, around 4000 Muslims and Hindus died and 2000 were wounded.
  
  
• Finally, on 2nd September, 1946, an interim government was formed with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister. The interim government had 7 Congress ministers and 5 Muslim League ministers, who joined the interim government on 15th October, 1946.
  
  
  • The Congress ministers in the interim Government were
    
    
    • Jawaharlal Nehru - Prime Minister
    • Vallabhbhai Patel - Home Minister
    • Baldev Singh - Defence Minister
    • C. Rajagopalchari - Education Minister
    • Rajendra Prasad - Food and Agriculture Minister
    • Jagjiran Ram - Labour Minister
    • Homi Bhaba - Mines and Power Minister
    
    
  • The Muslim League ministers in the interim Government were
    
    
    • Liyaquat Ali Khan - Finance Minister (first Prime Minister of Pakistan)
    • Abdur Rab Nishtar - Railways and Communications Minister
    • Ghazanfar Ali Khan - Health Minister
    • I.I. Chundrigar - Commerce Minister
    • Jogendra Nath Mandal - Law Minister
  
  
• As recommended by the Cabinet Mission Plan for the formation of Constituent Assembly in India, elections were held to the Constituent Assembly in July, 1946 to elect the members for framing the Indian Constitution.
  
  
• Attlee's Declaration, which included a deadline for power transfer and withdrawal from India, was made public following the Cabinet Mission's failure.