The preamble to the Constitution of India is a

brief introductory statement that sets out the

guiding purpose and principles of the document.

The preamble-page, along with other pages of

the original Constitution of India, was designed
and decorated solely by renowned painter Beohar
Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur
 The word sovereign means supreme or
independence. India is internally and externally
sovereign - externally free from the control of any
foreign power and internally, it has a free government
which is directly elected by the people and makes
laws that govern the people. She allies in peace and
war. The Popular sovereignty is also one of the basic
structure of constitution of India. Hence, Citizens of
India also enjoy sovereign power to elect their
representatives in elections held for parliament, state
legislature and local bodies as well. People have
supreme right to make decisions on internal as well
as external matters. No external power can dictate
the government of India
 The word socialist was added to the Preamble by the
Forty-second Amendment.It implies social and economic
equality.
Social equality in this context means the absence of
discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed
, sex, religion, or language.
Under social equality, everyone has equal status and
opportunities.
Economic equality in this context means that the
government will endeavor to make the distribution of
wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of
living for all. This is in effect emphasized a commitment
towards the formation of a welfare state. India has
adopted a socialistic and mixed economy and the
government has framed many laws to achieve the aim.
Indian Government shall respect all religions.
It would not uplift or degrade any
particular religion.
 The first part of the preamble “We, the people of India”
and, its last part “give to ourselves this Constitution”
clearly indicate the democratic spirit involved even in the
Constitution. India is a democracy. The people of India
elect their governments at all levels (Union, State and
local) by a system of universal adult franchise; popularly
known as "one man one vote". Every citizen of India,
who is 18 years of age and above and not otherwise
debarred by law, is entitled to vote. Every citizen enjoys
this right without any discrimination on the basis of
caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or education.
As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is
appointed on hereditary basis for a lifetime or until he
abdicates from the throne, a democratic republic is an
entity in which the head of state is elected, directly or
indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is
elected by an electoral college for a term of five years.
The post of the President Of India is not hereditary.
Every citizen of India is eligible to become the President
of the country.The leader of the state is elected by the
people.
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

1.A written and lengthy constitution:

The Constitution of India is a written constitution. It was

framed by a Constituent Assembly which was
established for the purpose in 1946. It has 395 Articles
and 12 Schedules. A number of amendments,
(about 96) passed since its enforcement in 1950, have
also become a part of the Constitution.

The Constitution of India is the lengthiest constitution in

the world as no other constitution contains as many
articles. The constitution of USA has 7 Articles,China
138, Japanese 103, and Canadian 107 Articles.
Federal government:

The Constitution provides for a federal form of

government. In a federation, there are two
governments-at the central level and at the state
(province) level. In India, the powers of the
government are divided between the central
government and state governments. There are
three different lists of subjects- (i) Union list, (ii)
State list and (iii) Concurrent list. The Union list
contains 97 subjects of national importance like
Defence, Foreign Affairs, Currency, Post and
Telegraph, Railways.
On these subjects, only central legislature
(Parliament) can make laws. State list contains 66
subjects of local importance. On these subjects,
state legislatures make laws. These subjects include
agriculture, police, and jails.

Concurrent list contains 47 subjects which are of

common concern to both the central and state
governments.
These include marriage, divorce, social security etc.
On these subjects, both the parliament and state
legislatures can legislate. However, if there is a
conflict between a central law and the state law over
a subject given in the concurrent list, the central law
will prevail.
Parliamentary government:

Indian Constitution provides for a parliamentary form of

government. President is nominal head of the state.
In actual practice, the government is run by the Prime
Minister and other members of the Council of Minister.
The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the
Parliament.
Directive principles of state policy:

The Directive Principles of State Policy are listed in

Part Four of the Constitution. The framers of our
constitution took the idea of having such principles
from the Irish Constitution. These principles are
instructions given by the Constitution to government.
All the governments-Central, State and Local-are
expected to frame their policies in accordance with
these principles. The aim of these principles is to
establish a welfare state in India. They, however, are
not binding on the government-they are mere
guidelines.
Partly rigid and partly flexible:

The Constitution of India is neither wholly rigid nor

wholly flexible. It is partly rigid and partly flexible. It is
because of the fact that for the purpose of amendment,
our constitution has been divided into three parts:

(a) certain provisions of the constitution can be

amended by a simple majority in the Parliament.

(b) Certain provisions can be amended by a two-third

majority of the Parliament and its ratification by at least
fifty percent states.

(c) The remaining provisions can be amended by the

Parliament by two-third majority.
Single citizenship:

In federation, normally we have double citizenship. In

U.S.A. every citizen besides being a citizen of United
States of America is the citizen of the state in which
he or she resides. But the Constitution of India
provides for singi' citizenship-every Indian,
irrespective of his place of birth or residence, is a
citizen of India. There is no citizenship of Delhi,
Punjab, Haryana or U.P.
Language policy:
The Constitution has also defined the language policy.
India is a country where different languages are spoken
in various parts of the country. Hindi and English have
been made official languages of the central government.
A state can adopt the language spoken by its people in
that state also as its official language. At present, we
have 22 languages which have been recognised by the
Indian Constitution.
These are:
Languages Recognised by the Indian Constitution:
Assamese Gujarati Konkani Marathi Sanskrit Telugu
Bengali Hindi Maithili Nepali Santhali Urdu Bodo
Kannada Malayalam Oriya Sindhi Dogri Kashmiri
Manipuri Punjabi Tamil
Special provisions for scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes:

The Constitution provides for giving certain special

concessions and privileges to the members of these
castes. Seats have been reserved for them in
Parliament, State legislature and local bodies, all
government services and in all professional colleges.
At present these concessions will continue up to the
year 2010.
Independent judiciary:

The Indian Constitution provides for an independent

judiciary. The judiciary has been made independent of
the Executive as well as the Legislature. The judges give
impartial justice.
 A constitution derived from many sources:

The framers of our constitution borrowed many things

from the constitutions of various other countries and
included them in our constitution. That is why; some
writers call Indian Constitution a 'bag of borrowings'.
One national language:

Although India is a multi-lingual state, the constitution

provides that Hindi in Devnagri script will be the national
language. It shall be the duty of the union to promote
and spread Hindi language.
 Emergency provisions:

The framers of our constitution had realized that there

could be certain dangerous situations when government
could not be run as in ordinary time. Hence our
constitution contains certain emergency provisions.
During emergency the fundamental rights of the citizens
can be suspended and our government becomes a
unitary one.
TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
1. To abide by the
constitution and to
respect ideals of
constitution and
institutions, the
National Flag and
the National
Anthem.
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
2. To cherish and
follow the noble
ideals which
inspired our
national struggle
for freedom.
TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES

3. To uphold and
protect the
sovereignty, unity
and integrity of
India.
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
4. To defend the
country and render
national service
when called upon
to do so.
TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
5. To promote harmony
and the spirit of
common brotherhood
amongst all the people
of India linguistic and
regional or sectional
diversities; to renounce
practices derogatory to
the dignity of women
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES

6. To value and
preserve the rich
heritage of our
composite culture
TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
7. To protect and
improve the natural
environment
including forests,
lakes, rivers and
wild life, and to
have compassion
for living creatures
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
8. To develop the
scientific temper,
humanism and the
spirit of inquiry and
reform.
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES

9. To safeguard public property and to abjure

violence
 TEN FUNDANMANTAL DUTIES
10. To strive towards
excellence in all
spheres of individual
and collective activity
so that the nation
constantly rises to
higher levels of
Endeavour and
achievement.
WHAT IS THE MEANING
OF RIGHTS
Rights literally
mean those
freedoms which
are essential for
personal good as
well as the good of
the community.
 THE RIGHTS OF AN INDIAN
The six fundamental
rights are:-
1. Right to equality
2. Right to freedom
3. Right against
exploitation
4.Right to freedom of
religion
5. Cultural and
educational rights
6. Right to constitutional
remedies
RIGHT TO EQUALITY
Includes..
• Equality before
law.
• Prohibition of
discrimination on
grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or
place of birth.
• Equality of
opportunity in
matters of
employment
 RIGHT TO FREEDOM
• Right to freedom and expression,
which enable an individual to
participate in public activities.
• Freedom to assemble peacefully
without arms.
• Freedom to form associations or
unions.
• Freedom to move freely
throughout the territory of India.
• Freedom to reside and settle in
any part of the territory of India.
• Freedom to practice any
profession or to carry on any
occupation, trade or business.
 RIGHT
AGAINST EXPLIOTATION
• Abolition of
trafficking in human
beings and Begar
(forced labor).
• Abolition of
employment of
children below the
age of 14 years in
dangerous jobs like
factories and mines.
 THE RIGHT TO
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
• All religions are equal
before the State and no
religion shall be given
preference over the other.
• Citizens are free to preach,
practice and propagate any
religion of their choice.
• The objective of this right is
to sustain the principle of
secularism in India.
CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL
RIGHTS
• Any community which has
a language and a script of
its own has the right to
conserve and develop
them.
• No citizen can be
discriminated against for
admission in State or State
aided institutions.
 RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL
REMEDIES
• Empowers the citizens to move a court
of law in case of any denial of
fundamental rights