OUR CONSTITUTION 1

Course Content:
Definition of Constitution - date of adoption, date of enforcement and its significance
Features: Single Citizenship, Universal Adult Franchise

WHAT IS CONSTITUTION? The Constitution of India provides for a single

tor the whole of India. Every person
The Constitution is a framework of fundamental cifizenship
which a system of government who was domiciled in the territory of India at the
principles within time of the commencement of the Constitution on
operates. It is a set of written rules and laws
26January 1950, and:
which define the position and powers of the three
organs of a government--the legislature, the (a) who was born in India, or
executive and the judiciary. It defines the powers (b) either of whose parents was in India, or
of the government at all levels-central and state,
(c) who has been ordinarily resident in India
as wellthe powers of the local agencies of the for not less that five years, became a
government. The Constitution also regulates the citizen of India.
relationship between the individual citizen and
the state by incorporating the basic rights and Every citizen is given certain basic rights to
duties of the citizens. ensure his or her allround development. Rights
imply duties. Originally, our Constitution did not
OURCONSTITUTION contain any formal lists of duties for the citizens
The Constitution of India came into force on of India. But through the 42nd Amendment Act,
26 January 1950, when India became a Part IV A was added to the Constitution. This part
'sovereign democratic republic'. enumerates ten fundamental duties of the citizens.
India is a democratic country in which citizens Thus, our Constitution ensures that while the
have certain rights and duties guaranteed to them citizens' rights are safeguarded, they also have
by the Constitution. certain duties that they must fulfil.

C-1
 The Government of India can make laws only Alter making several amendments to the
within the tramework of the Constitution which Constitution, the Constitution of Drah
clearly spels out the powers and the limitations finally adopted by the Constituent India was
of the government. In brief, the Constitution 26 November 1949.
establishes a state which is governed by a set
Assembly
con
of rulesas opposed to an absolute and
The Constituent Assembly took two years,
eleven
arbitrary months and seventeen days to complete its task
government which rules the people on the basis making a Constitution for India. of
of its whims and fancies. The
as a whole, came into force,,on 26 Consti1950,
January tution,
FRAMING OF OUR CONSTITUTION making India a republic.
Ihe Consthitution of our country was framed by SIGNIFICANCE OF 26TH JANUARY
the Constituent Assembly which was
constituted in
1946. This Assembly originally had 389 26th January was specially chosen for the
After Partition, the total number of members. promulgation of the Indian Constitution because of
seats
down to 299, as some provinces and came its special significance in our struggle for freedom
states became part of Pakistan. princely At its Lahore Session in 1929, the
Indian Nationgl
The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly Congress passed the Poorna Swaraj or complete
took place on 9 December 1946. On Independence resolution. The Congress Working
1lth December 1946, the Assembly Committee subsequently met on 2 January
Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its elected 1930 and decided to observe 26 January
permanent President. 1930 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the
The Constituent Assembly comprised other Poorna
eminent persons as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Swaraj Day.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad, K. M.
Munshi, H. N. Kunzru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and
C. Rojogopalachar
A Drafting Committee
Was constituted on
29 August 1947
to prepare Draft
constitution and present
it to the Constituent
Assembly. had
seven members and
Dr B.R. Ambedkar
Was its Chairman. Dr B.R. Ambedkar Jawaharlal Nehru signing the Indian Constitution

C-2
 The Preomble
The Constiution of India, like many other democratic constitutions, is preceded by the Preamble. The Preamble
belos in understanding the overall philosophy of our Constitution. Ih is an introduction to the Constitution.
t explains the inient of the Constitution-framers. In short, the Preamble sets out the main objectives that the
Consitution intended to achieve and promoie.
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA,
having solemnly resolved to constitute India
into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLICand 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 26th day of
November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE
TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Although federal
"Single Citizenship: Indian
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE features exist in the Constitution
CONSTITUTION with the provision of dual polity at the
The Constitution of India is a legally sanctified centre and the states, there is only one
consisting of the basic principles
of citizenship in India. The Indian Constitution
document
yovernance. It sets out the framework and the recognises only a single citizenship. Single
of the citizenship means that a person born
principal functions of the various organs certain anywhere in India can only be a citizen
Constitution ensures a
government. The
their of India and that he/she does not have
"ghts to the citizens of Indig and defines which
separate citizenship of the state to other
of India includes
duties as well. The Constitutiondistinguish it from he/she belongs. In the USA, on thecan be
Some distinct features which Montana
hand, aperson living in Montana
the other constitutions of the world. The salient acitizen of the state of
as well
features of the Constitution of India are
C-3
 as a citizen of the USA. Every Indian is a
citizen of India and enjoys the same rights
of citizenship. The Government of India
amended the Citizenship Act in 2015 to
bring parity between provisions for Persons
of Indian origin (PIO) and Overseas
Citizens of India (OC) cardholders. The
Act allows a person to apply for citizenship
by registration or naturalisation if they fulfil
certain qualifications.
" Universal Adult Franchise: The Constitution
established a system of universal adut
franchise. The old British system of
communal electorate was abolished and
a joint electorate was established. Every
Indian citizen who has completed the
age of 18 years has the right to vote and
participate in choosing the government at
different levels, i.e., the central, the state
and the local levels, irrespective of his/
her religion, race, caste or sex. People
thus exercise their right to vote to elect
representatives to the legislature.
We willstudy about the Fundamental Rights
and Directive Principles of State Policy in
the subsequentchapters.
"Fundamental Rights and
Duties: The Constitution of IndiaFundamental
confers and
guarantees some basic human rights on
all citizens of India without
discrimination
on the basis of race, religion,
gender,
etc. These rights are called Fundamental
Rights. Articles 12-35 in Part Ill of the
Indian Constitution deal with Fundamental
Rights, given under six broad categories.
These righis are considered essential for
the existence and proper
individuals. These rights aredevelopment
fundamental
of
because of two reasons-first, the
Constitution guarantees them and the
second, these rights are enforceable by
the courts, subject to certain conditions.
C-4
Being justiciable means that in case of
violation, the individucal can approach their
for their protecion. If a
government cOurts
engcts
law that restricts any of these
will be declared invalid by courts. Ho rights,
it
these rights are not absolute and can b
curtailed during an emergency.
However,
The Constitution guarantees six
fundamentol
rights to Indian citizens as follows:
to Equality, (i) Right to Freedom, (i))Right
Right
Against Exploitation, (iv) Right to Freedom
of Religion, (v) Cultural and
Educationgl
Rights, and (vi) Right to Constitutiongl
Remedies.
The Indian Constitution also enlists
core duties that every cifizen is certain
expected to
perform. These are known as Fundamentl
Duties. Every citizen needs to perform
them as a good and lawabiding citizen
of India. Originally Fundamental Duties
were not included in the Constitution. By the
42nd Amendment of the Constitution, ten
Fundamental Duties were added. Now one
more Fundamental Duty has been added
under 86th Amendment Act, 2002, so there
are 11 Fundamental Duties in all.
Directive Principles of State Policy: The
Constitution lays down certain Directive
Principles of State Policy in Part V of
the Constitution (Articles 36-51). Unlike
Fundamental rights, Directive Principles are
non-justiciable, which means they are noB
enforceable by any court in case of ther
violation. However, the principles laid down
therein are 'fundamental in governance of
the country', and it is the duty of the Stote to
apply these principles in making laws. The
Constitution thus imposes a moral obligaton
on state governments for their application.
The Directive Principles reflect the overall
objectives laid down in the Preamble to
Justice-
our Constitution, as the expression
 sociol,6conomic, politicol, is sought to be to he psitie
ochieved through thes6 pinciles The stote
must diret its policy in such omonner
0s to otoin the ultimots ideols of he ideols ond demassfc wisis.
Preomble, ie, 'Justice, iberty, Equolity ond
froternity. IH thus endeavours to ochieve Gnvigo that in o wtry ike India, pplits
the idegof a wellors stote. The Stote sholl denI wasd te menig e3
diret its policy in such omonner os to ochieing ovrialy just vristy ond erced enmy
secure the right of oll men gnd women toAher Indeendera essl bws were to
on odequote means of livelihood, Gqual fulfl cialistic gools f the Consittn rtsre
poy for equol work and within limits of in the Directive Principles. Sirce
then, Corsant
its economic copocity ond dovslopmnt, effots hove been mode to improve te potn
to moke effective provision for securing f bockward and eonomicsly wecher etn3
the right to work, educalion and to public of wciety.
ossistanc in the event of ungrnployrnent, and amendmert to
Anumber of legislationscarried
or other out to cchieve
old age, sickness anddisablernert the Constitution have been
cases of undeserved want. The State shall Principles cf Srate
workers a the objectives of the Directive
also endeavour to secure to
hurnane conditions of work, a Policy,Lond
such as:
Reforms Act
living woge, involvernent "
decentstandard of life, and full industries. "Nationglisation of bank and
industries
of workers in managernent of " Welfare schernes for the
wecker secticns

WELFARE STATE " Panchayati Raj system

of the Indian Constitution were " Equal Remuneration Act
The framers Republic " Environmental safeguards
Constitution of Irish
inspired by the on 'Directive Principles
theseCompulsory education for children
which embodies achapter a number of Constitution has been amended,
of Siale Policy'. However, and Gandhian in The abolition laws
zamindari Constirution,
principles are entirely Indian successively, e.g.,
amendment to the
up of vilage panchayat through the first
as, setting
nalure, suchindustries, prohibition and protection 44th Amendment Act, 1978,
Gnd cottage
similarly, the
to property from the list of
right
rermoved theRights. detail
ogainst cowslaughter.
nonjusticiable and Fundamental (You will study these in
Directive Principles, though considered as
are in chapBer 3.)
court,
not enforceable by any and obligatethestate
fundamentdl to governance RECAPITULATION organs of
and powers of thethree
the position
rules and laws which define the judiciary. principles for the
Constitution ís aset of executive and of the basic
I. A government-the legislature, the sanctified document consisting well.
lhe Constítution of India is alegally defines theirduties as
and
The
Z. gOvernance citizens of India Assembly.
of the State. certain basic rights to the Constituent
Constitution ensures President of the
J, The Prasad was the permanent the Drafting Committee.
Rajendra Chairman of
4. Dr. Ambedkar was the
Dr. B. R. C-5