Session1

Introduction to the Constitution of India

The Constitution is the supreme law of the country and all other law-making authorities must
abide by it. They are constrained by constitution in various forms and to different degrees.
Most importantly, constitution provides a guideline, a framework, for governing principles
and procedures, ruling practices, rights of citizens, their powers, and of course, their duties.
Constitution is not created by parliament. It was formed by a constituent assembly after
strenuous researches, discussions, surveys and other such monumental efforts.
The constitution of India was adopted on the 26th of November, in the year 1949. However,
it came to effect on the 26th of January,1950. 26th of January is celebrated as the Republic
Day of India.
Question 1: What is constitutional assembly? Who were its members and what were
their responsibilities?
Parliament cannot override the principles laid by Constitution. Let’s consider certain
prominent features of India’s Constitution:
It is world’s longest constitution.
It had already 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules already at its commencement.
You can imagine its sheer vastness as it consists of approximately 145,000 words!
It is apparently the second largest active constitution in the world.
It has an elaborate preamble which you will not find in the Constitution of Australia, Canada
or the U.S.A. Preamble primarily tells you what the nature of the government is.

Task 1: Find out and write how many amendments, articles, parts, and schedules
currently our Constitution consists of.
Task 2: Draw/Paste Preamble. Explain the key terms mentioned in it.