troops there surrendered to joint forces of Bangladesh and India, who had seized the capital city of Dacca (now Dhaka). Swaran Singh Committee Sardar Swaran Singh was chairperson of the committee entrusted with the responsibility of studying the Constitution of India in 1976 during the national emergency. Soon after the declaration of the national emergency, Indira Gandhi constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of Sardar Swaran Singh to study the question of amending the constitution in the light of past experiences. Based on its recommendations, the government incorporated several changes to the Constitution including the Preamble, through the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India (passed in 1976 and came into effect on 3 January 1977) Awards He was awarded Padma Vibhushan award - the second highest civil award by the republic of India in 1992. The Eminent Persons Group on South Africa Sardar Swaran Singh met with Nelson Mandela in prison three times in the mid 1980s. He was a member of the eminent persons group on South Africa sponsored by the Commonwealth Institute that consisted of Malcolm Fraser who had been Prime Minister of Australia for eight years, General Obasanjo of Nigeria, Lord Barber who had been Edward Heath's Chancellor of the Exchequer and was also chairman of the Standard Chartered Bank, Dame Nita Barrow, Reverend Scott and John Malecela, a Tanzanian former government minister. The group went to South Africa and spent five weeks there to collect information, interact with local people, and met with Nelson Mandela and the ANC; their findings were published by the Commonwealth Institute entitled "Mission to South Africa: the Commonwealth Report". UNESCO Boards of Directors Sardar Swaran Singh served as a member of board of directors from 1985 - 1989 for sessions 123 - 132. References External links Obituary On Swaran Singh at Sikh-History.com Detailed Article on his life history Indian National Congress politicians 1907 births 1994 deaths Indian Sikhs Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs Railway Ministers of India India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 Ministers for External Affairs of India Agriculture Ministers of India Guru Nanak Dev University alumni Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India Shiromani Akali Dal politicians Panthic Party politicians Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, India Defence Ministers of India People from Jalandhar district Indian National Congress (U) politicians