Table of Contents
Constitution Day
Indian Constitution Day, observed every year on November 26th, commemorates the adoption of the Indian Constitution. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India officially adopted the Constitution, although it only came into effect on January 26, 1950.
The Constitution of India serves as the country’s highest legal authority, outlining the structure, functions, and responsibilities of the government, as well as the rights of the people. It was created by the Constituent Assembly, with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar playing a key role in its drafting.
Constitution Day was first celebrated in 2015, after the Indian government decided to mark the occasion of the Constitution’s adoption. The day is observed with events, discussions, and educational programs across the nation, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of the Constitution and the rights and duties it ensures for every citizen.
This day highlights the core values of democracy, justice, and equality enshrined in the Constitution, reminding us of the importance of following the laws that govern the nation.
Structure of The Constitution
The Indian Constitution is one of the longest and most detailed written constitutions in the world. Various components of the structure of the Indian Constitution can be seen as follows:
Parts
- A “Part” of the Constitution refers to a division within the Constitution that groups together Articles on similar subjects or themes.
- The Indian Constitution is structured into various Parts, each dealing with a specific aspect of the country’s legal, administrative, or governmental framework.
- Originally, there were 22 parts in the Constitution of India. As of now, there are 25 parts of the Indian Constitution.
Articles
- An “Article” refers to a specific provision or clause within the Constitution that details various aspects of the country’s legal and governmental framework.
- Each part of the constitution contains several articles numbered sequentially.
- Originally, there were 395 articles in the Constitution of India. As of now, the Indian Constitution contains 448 articles.
Schedules
- A “Schedule” refers to a list or a table attached to the Constitution that details certain additional information or guidelines relevant to the constitutional provisions.
- They provide clarity and supplementary details, making the Constitution more comprehensive and functional.
- Originally, there were 8 schedules in the Constitution of India. As of now, there are 12 schedules in the Indian Constitution.
Salient Features of The Constitution
The characteristics of the Indian Constitution can be seen as follows:
- Lengthiest Written Constitution – The Constitution of India is the lengthiest of all the written Constitutions of the world. It is a very comprehensive and detailed document.
- Several factors that have contributed to its elephantine size include – the need to accommodate the vast diversity of the country, a single constitution for both the Center and States, the presence of legal experts and luminaries in the Constituent Assembly, etc.
- Drawn from Various Sources – The Constitution of India has borrowed most of its provisions from the Government of India Act of 1935 as well as from the constitutions of various other countries.
- Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility – Constitutions are classified into – rigid (requires a special procedure for its amendment) and flexible (can be amended in the same manner as ordinary laws are made).
- The Constitution of India is neither rigid nor flexible, but a synthesis of both.
- Federal System with Unitary Bias – The Constitution of India establishes a federal system of government and contains all the usual features of a federation. However, it also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal features.
- Parliamentary Form of Government – The Constitution of India has adopted the British Parliamentary System of Government. The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive organs.
- Synthesis of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy – The synthesis of parliamentary sovereignty and judicial supremacy in India represents a delicate balance between the authority of the legislature to enact laws and the power of the judiciary to review and interpret these laws in light of constitutional principles.
- While Parliament retains the ultimate authority to make laws, the judiciary serves as the guardian of the Constitution, ensuring that parliamentary actions adhere to constitutional norms and protect fundamental rights.
- Integrated and Independent Judiciary – The Indian Constitution establishes an integrated and independent judicial system in the country.
- An integrated judicial system means that a single system of courts, comprising of Supreme Court, High Courts, and Subordinate Courts, enforces both the central laws as well as the state laws.
- An independent judicial system means that the Indian judiciary operates autonomously, free from the influence of the executive and legislative branches of government.
- Fundamental Rights – The Indian Constitution guarantees 6 Fundamental Rights to all citizens, which promotes the idea of political democracy in the country. They operate as limitations on the tyranny of the executive and arbitrary laws of the legislature.
- Directive Principles of State Policy – The Indian Constitution contains a set of principles in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy, which denote the ideals that the state should keep in mind while formulating policies and enacting laws.
- The Directive Principles seek to establish a ‘Welfare State’ in India by promoting the ideal of social and economic democracy.
- Fundamental Duties – The Fundamental Duties are a set of moral and civic obligations outlined in the Constitution of India.
- These duties serve as a guide for citizens to contribute towards building a strong and harmonious nation.
- A Secular State – The Constitution of India does not uphold any particular religion as the official religion of the Indian State. Instead, it mandates that the state treat all religions equally, refraining from favoring or discriminating against any particular religion.
- Universal Adult Franchise – The Indian Constitution adopts universal adult franchise as the basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.
- Every citizen who is not less than 18 years of age has a right to vote without any discrimination based on caste, race, religion, sex, literacy, wealth, and so on.
- Single Citizenship – Single citizenship is a constitutional principle in India whereby all citizens irrespective of the state in which they are born or reside enjoy the same political and civil rights of citizenship all over the country, and no discrimination is made between them.
- Independent Bodies – The Indian Constitution has established certain independent bodies which are envisaged as the bulwarks of the democratic system of Government in India.
- Emergency Provisions – The Indian Constitution contains emergency provisions to enable the President to meet any extraordinary situation effectively.
- The rationale behind the incorporation of these provisions is to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity, and security of the country, the democratic political system, and the Constitution.
- Three-tier Government – The three-tier government refers to the division of governmental powers and responsibilities among three levels- the central government, state governments, and local governments (Panchayats and Municipalities).
- This decentralized system allows for effective governance by delegating authority to address regional and local issues, promoting participatory democracy and grassroots development.
- Co-operative Societies – The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 gave constitutional status and protection to co-operative societies.
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Preamble
“We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute
India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, Social, Economic and Political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among
them all; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and
the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of
November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO
OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”.
The Preamble reveals four ingredients or components:
- Source of authority of the Constitution: The Preamble states
that the Constitution derives its authority from the people of
India. - Nature of Indian State: It declares India to be of a sovereign,
socialist, secular democratic and republican polity. - Objectives of the Constitution: It specifies justice, liberty,
equality and fraternity as the objectives. - Date of adoption of the Constitution: It stipulates November
26, 1949, as the date
Making Of The Constitution
It was in 1934 that the idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was put forward for the first time by M.N. Roy, a pioneer of communist movement in India. In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC), for the first time, officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India.
The demand was finally accepted in principle by the British Government in what is known as the ‘August Offer’ of 1940.
1942, Sir Stafford Cripps, a Member of the Cabinet, came to India with a draft proposal of the British Government on the framing of an independent Constitution to be adopted after the World War II.
The Cripps Proposals were rejected by the Muslim League, which wanted India to be divided into two autonomous states with two separate Constituent Assemblies. Finally, a Cabinet Mission1 was sent to India. While it rejected the idea of two Constituent Assemblies, it put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League.
The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan.
The features of the scheme were:
1. The total strength of the Constituent Assembly was to be 389. Of these, 296 seats were to be allotted to British India and 93 seats to the princely states. Out of 296 seats allotted to the British India, 292 members were to be drawn from the eleven governors’ provinces2 and four from the four Chief Commissioners’ provinces3 , one from each.
2. Each province and princely state (or group of states in case of small states) were to be allotted seats in proportion to their respective population. Roughly, one seat was to be allotted for every million population.
3. Seats allocated to each British province were to be divided among the three principal communities–Muslims, Sikhs and General (all except Muslims and Sikhs), in proportion to their population.
4. The representatives of each community were to be elected by members of that community in the provincial legislative assembly and voting was to be by the method of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
5. The representatives of the princely states were to be nominated by the heads of the princely states.
The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on December 9, 1946. The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan. The meeting was, thus, attended by only 211 members.Later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Assembly. Similarly, both H.C. Mukherjee and V.T. Krishnamachari were elected as the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly. In other words, the Assembly had two Vice-Presidents
On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Assembly. It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure
The representatives of the princely states, who had stayed away from the Constituent Assembly, gradually joined it. On April 28, 1947, representatives of the six states5 were part of the Assembly.
After the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947, for the partition of the country, the representatives of most of the other princely states took their seats in the Assembly. The members of the Muslim League from the Indian Dominion also entered the Assembly.
In all, the Constituent Assembly had 11 sessions over two years, 11 months and 18 days. The Constitution-makers had gone through the Constitutions of about 60 countries, and the Draft Constitution was considered for 114 days.
The total expenditure incurred on making the Constitution amounted to ₹64 lakh. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly held its final session. It, however, did not end, and continued as the provisional parliament of India from January 26, 1950, till the formation of new Parliament after the first general elections in 1951–52.
Committees of the Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees.
The names of these committees and their Chairman are given below:
Major Committees 1. Union Powers Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Union Constitution Committee -Jawaharlal Nehru
3. Provincial Constitution Committee -Sardar Patel
4. Drafting Committee – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Sardar Patel.
This committee had the following five sub-committees:
(a) Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee – J.B. Kripalani (b) Minorities Sub-Committee – H.C. Mukherjee (c) North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee -Gopinath Bardoloi (d) Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee – A.V. Thakkar (e) North-West Frontier Tribal Areas Sub-Committee
6. Rules of Procedure Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru
8. Steering Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad Minor Committees
1. Finance and Staff Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
2. Credentials Committee – Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
3. House Committee – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
4. Order of Business Committee – Dr. K.M. Munshi
5. Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
6. Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly – G.V. Mavalankar
7. Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court – S. Varadachari (Not an Assembly Member)
8. Committee on Chief Commissioners’ Provinces – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
9. Expert Committee on the Financial Provisions of the Union Constitution -Nalini Ranjan Sarkar (Not an Assembly Member)
10. Linguistic Provinces Commission – S.K. Dar (Not an Assembly Member)
11. Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution – Jawaharlal Nehru
12. Press Gallery Committee – Usha Nath Sen
13. Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship – S. Varadachari (Not an Assembly Member)
Drafting Committee Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. It consisted of seven members.
They were: 1. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman) 2. N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar 3. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar 4. Dr. K.M. Munshi 5. Syed Mohammad Saadullah 6. N. Madhava Rau (He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health) 7. T.T. Krishnamachari (He replaced D.P. Khaitan who died in 1948)
The Drafting Committee, after taking into consideration the proposals of the various committees, prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India, which was published in February, 1948. The people of India were given eight months to discuss the draft and propose amendments. In the light of the public comments, criticisms and suggestions, the Drafting Committee prepared a second draft, which was published in October, 1948. The Drafting Committee took less than six months to prepare its draft. In all it sat only for 141 days.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar introduced the final draft of the Constitution in the Assembly on November 4, 1948 (first reading). The Assembly had a general discussion on it for five days (till November 9, 1948).
The Constitution as adopted on November 26, 1949, contained a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted after the entire Constitution was already enacted. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the then Law Minister, piloted the Draft Constitution in the Assembly. He took a very prominent part in the deliberations of the Assembly.
He was known for his logical, forceful and persuasive arguments on the floor of the Assembly. He is recognised as the ‘Father of the Constitution of India’. This brilliant writer, constitutional expert, undisputed leader of the Scheduled Castes and the ‘chief architect of the Constitution of India’ is also known as a ‘Modern Manu’.
January 26 was specifically chosen as the ‘date of commencement’ of the Constitution because of its historical importance. It was on this day in 1930 that Purna Swaraj day was celebrated, following the resolution of the Lahore Session (December 1929) of the INC.
Important Facts
1. Elephant was adopted as the symbol (seal) of the Constituent Assembly.
2. Sir B.N. Rau was appointed as the constitutional advisor (Legal advisor) to the Constituent Assembly.
3. H.V.R. Iyengar was the Secretary to the Constituent Assembly.
4. S.N. Mukerjee was the chief draftsman of the constitution in the Constituent Assembly.
5. Prem Behari Narain Raizada was the calligrapher of the Indian Constitution. The original constitution was handwritten by him in a flowing italic style.
6. The original version was beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan including Nand Lal Bose and Beohar Rammanohar Sinha.
7. Beohar Rammanohar Sinha illuminated, beautified and ornamented the original Preamble calligraphed by Prem Behari Narain Raizada.
8. The calligraphy of the Hindi version of the original constitution was done by Vasant Krishan Vaidya and elegantly decorated and illuminated by Nand Lal Bose.
Inspirational Quotes
We are Indians, firstly and lastly. – Dr BR Ambedkar
The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equality of status and opportunity to every citizen. – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
“Liberty, equality, and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. – Dr BR Ambedkar
A Constitution is not merely a document in black and white. It is a living document that evolves with the nation. – Justice PN Bhagwati
Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. – Dr BR Ambedkar
The greatness of a nation lies in its fidelity to its Constitution and its adherence to the rule of law. – Pranab Mukherjee
The sanctity of the Constitution lies in its ability to balance rights and responsibilities. – Unknown
The Constitution gives us the freedom to dream big and work towards achieving those dreams. – Narendra Modi
The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object. – Dr Rajendra Prasad
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