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should be given to the guarantees and assurances which the Government of India have given in respect of the rights and privileges of Rulers. This is contained in Article 362, which provides that in the exercise of their legislative and executive authority, the legislative and executive organs of the Union and States will have due regard to the guarantees given to the Rulers with respect to their personal rights, privileges and dignities.

241. Other Matters.—Amongst other important features of the new Constitution, in so far as they concern the States, reference may be made to the following:—

(1) Control of the Government of India over the States during the transitional period.

In Part X of this Paper, the reasons which rendered it necessary for the Government of India to assure general control over the Unions of States have been set out in detail. As the stress of the transitional phase is likely to continue for some time, it has been considered necessary that the Government of India should exercise supervisory authority over the Governments of States specified in Part B till such time as may be necessary. This is provided in Article 371, which reads as follows:

"Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, during a period of ten years from the commencement thereof, or during such longer or shorter period as Parliament may by law provide in respect of any State, the Government of every State specified in Part B of the First Schedule shall be under the general control of, and comply with such particular directions, if any, as may from time to time be given by, the President:
Provided that the President may by order direct that the provisions of this Article shall not apply to any State specified in the order".

The following extract from the Statement made by the Hon'ble Minister for States before the Constituent Assembly on October 12, 1949, explains the policy of the Government of India in respect of the application of this Article:

"As the House is aware, the States, as we inherited them, were in varying stages of development. In most cases the advance had to be made from the starting point of pure autocracy. Having regard to the magnitude of the task, which confronted the Governments of the Unions in the transitional period, and to the fact that neither the Services inherited
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