Social And Political Life -III. (1-Constitution).

 1  Constitution – 

A constitution signifies independence. It         establishes the main organs of the                   government — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.                                                   A Constitution defines the powers and.          responsibilities of each organ of the.                government. It regulates the relationship     between the three organs and also with the people. It also enumerates our Rights and duties as citizen

s. It contains our national goals such as Democracy, secularism and socialism. To achieve these goals, it envisages various plans for implementation by the government. Every Constitution gets meaning and content only from the manner in which and by whom it is operated. In this way, our Constitution is very important to us. It is our foremost duty to respect our Constitution. 

Pt. Nehru signing on the Indian Constitution.

Meaning of a Constitution –

      A Constitution is a fundamental legal document that contains the rules according to which the government of a country functions. These rules or laws are called the basic laws. These laws are superior to all the laws of a country. That is, the laws written in the Constitution act as the source according to which rules and regulations of governing a country are framed. Every law enacted by the government has to be in conformity with the Constitution. But, the Constitution constantly grows and evolves according to the needs, requirements and aspirations of the people and functioning institutions.

First day (December 11, 1946) of the
Constitution Assembly.

The Role Or The Need For A Constitution —

Every organisation or society needs certain rules and regulations for its smooth functioning. For example, we play games like cricket, football etc. Each game has some rules according to which it is played. These rules help to define the game. They also help us in distinguishing one game from another. Like these games, a society or country also needs some fundamental rules that are included in the Constitution. These rules make it what it is and differentiate it from other kinds of societies. That is why, most countries in the world have a Constitution. In a democratic country like India, the importance of the Constitution is more significant.

The Constitution is needed for the following reasons:

• In a democratic government, the citizens participate in the functioning of the government — directly or indirectly. It is the Constitution in which the government's powers and citizen's Rights are clearly defined. It prevents the government from misusing it's rights and thus, safeguards the rights of the citizens.
• A Constitution is not a more Document but, a living Document. This means that it constantly grows and evolves according to the needs, requirements and aspirations of the people of the country.
• It consists of certain ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that We aspire as citizens. That is, it tells us the fundamental nature of our society. For example, after independence, we adopted a Constitution that reflects the ideals of our country. Similarly, Nepal adopted a new Constitution in order to usher in a new society, when it moved from a monarchy to a democratic government.
• A country is usually made up of different communities of people. The constitution helps serve as a set of rules and principales that all persons in a country can agree upon.
• The constitution defines the nature of a country's political system. In a democracy, We choose so that they can exercise power responsibly on our behalf. But often, they misuse their authority. The constitution lays down rules that guard against this misuse of power by our political leaders. For example, our Constitution guarantees the right to Equality to all persons. According to it, no citizen can be discriminated on the grounds of caste, religion, race, gender and place of birth. The Right to Equality is one of the Fundamental Rights mentioned in our Constitution. If there were no such restrictions on the power of elected representatives, they could misuse their authority.
• A Constitution ensures that a dominant group does not use its power against other less powerful people or groups. It ensures that minorities are not excluded from anything that is routinely available to the majority.
• It prevents both the inter-community and intra-community dominations. Inter-community domination refers to one community dominating another while intra-community domination means members of one community dominating others within the same community.
• Sometimes, we take certain decisions that could have an adverse effect on our Larger interests. The Constitution helps us guard against this situation. For example, frustrated with the corruption, red-tapism and delay in decision-making, many people may be of the opinion that there should be a strong dictator to set the system right. But in reality, the dictatorial rule goes against all our interests. A good constitution does not allow such whims of people to change its basic structure.

Features of Indian Constitution —

          Our Constitution starts with the preamble. A preamble means an introduction in which the purpose of the Constitution is given. It contains the ideals and basic principles of the Indian Constitution. Our Constitution wants to achieve these ideals. 

Preamble of the Constitution.

The salient features of our Constitution are as follows:

A Detailed written Constitution –

      Our Constitution is the lengthiest Constitution of the world. No other Constitution has gone into such minute details as the Indian Constitution. Originally, it was divided into 22 parts, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. Later on, 4 more Schedules were added to it. It elaborates not only the governmental structure at the central, state and local levels but also gives details on citizenship, righis and duties of the people, directive principles of state policy, union —state relations, election, etc. Our Constitution makers did not want any portion of the Constitution to be vague or unclear.

Provisions of Amendment –

        Our Constitution is a living Document. That is, it is changeable. It is constantly growing and evolving according to the needs, requirements and aspirations of people. In the Constitution itself, a procedure has been laid down by which changes can be brought about. Such changes are called amendments. These amendments are made to remove the difficulties that arise from time to time.

A Sovereign Democratic Republic –

         India is a Sovereign country. This means that it is free from external control. It can frame its own policies. It can not be dictated by any other foreign country.

        India has a Democracy. People of India elect their governments at all the levels by the method of Universal Adult Franchise.

        India is also a Republic. This means that the head of the nation i.e., the President is elected by the people. Our President is not a hereditary ruler like the British monarch.

A Socialist and Secular country –

       The Preamble declares that India is a Socialist and Secular country. Democracy with Universal Adult Franchise ensures political Equality to its citizens. The Constitution has also provisions to promote social And economic equality in India. It prevents social Inequality or discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex or education. It also has provisions to bridge the gap of economic Inequality between people.

          India is a secular state. This means that all citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs, are equal before the law of the land. The state does not officially promote any one religion as the state religion. In other words, the government can not frame such policies that discriminate between various religious communities of India.

Federalism –

    Our Constitution sets up a federal system of government. This is a system in which there are more than one levels of government in the country. India has governments at the Central level and at the state. It has also a government at the local level. India is vast country. It is difficult to run the administration of the whole country from one centre. That is why, besides the government at the state levels. Our Constitution demarcates the powers of the central and the state governments into different lists of subjects. These lists are called the Union List, the state List and the Concurrent List.

          These lists clearly mention the subjects on which the central and the state governments can pass laws. This is called division of the powers between the centre and the state governments. We have studied about them in detail in previous class. The Constitution also specifies where each tier of government can get the money from to meet its responsibilities. Under federalism, like the centre, the states also draw their authority from the Constitution. Each level of the government makes laws and policies for the people of the country.

Parliamentary System –

      The legislature in the centre is called the parliament or the sansad. India has a parliamentary form of government. This means that the parliament is supreme and represents the people of the country.

Parliament House. 

Our Constitution guarantees Universal Adult suffrage for all citizens. That is, the people of India have a direct role in electing their representatives. These representatives are accountable to the people.

Separation of powers –

   As per our constitution, there are three organs of the government — The legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The legislature consists of our elected representatives who make the laws. The executive implements these laws. It is a smaller group of our elected representatives. The judiciary refers to the system of courts that interprets the laws. The Constitution not only defines the powers of each organ, it demarcates the responsibilities of each. Each organ act as a check on the other organs of the government that ensures the balance of power among all these three organs.

Fundamental Rights –

    Our Constitution guarantees certain basic rights to every of the India that are called Fundamental Rights. These Rights are essential not only to run a democratic government, but also for an individual citizen to develop his/her personality.

Fundamental Rights.

They are fundamental to every citizen's life and therefore, they are called Fundamental Rights. These Rights protect citizens against the arbitray and absolute excercise of power by the government. 

      Our Constitution has guarantees six such rights that are as follows:

Right to Equality –

      According to our Constitution, all citizens will be equally protected by the laws of the country. That is, all persons are equal before the law, The state can not discriminate against a citizen on the basis of race, caste, sex , religion or place of birth. The practice of untouchability has been abolished. Every citizen has access to all public places such as playgrounds, shops , hotels, etc. All citizens can apply for government jobs.

Right to Freedom –

       Our Constitution has given the right to freedom to every citizen. Under this right, a citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to form associations, the right to move freely and reside in any part of the country and the right to practice any profession, occupation or business.

Rights to Freedom.

Right against Exploitation –

      Poverty makes people helpless. The rich take advantage of the Poor's helplessness.

Right against Exploitation.

Poor people are often compelled to work without payment. This is called forced labour or Begar. So, the Right against Exploitation prohibits trafficking, forced labour and the working of children who are under 14 years of age.

Right to freedom of Religion –

       Every citizen in India has the right to worship, practise and propagate his/her religion. In the eyes of law, all religions are equal and everyone of us should pay respect to other religions.

Right to freedom of religion.

Cultural and Educational Rights –

      Our Constitution recognises the right of each group of people to establish and maintain Educational institutions of its own in order to preserve and develop their language and culture.

Cultural and Educational Rights.

Right to Constitutional Remedies –

      This gives authority to the citizens to move the High Court and the Supreme Court if they believe that any of their Fundamental Rights has been violated by the state.

         All these Rights are binding upon every authority that has got the power to make laws.

Right to Constitutional Remedy.

Directive principles —

     Our Constitution gives some directives to the government to improve the condition of the people. These principles help the government to make social And economic reforms in the country. They direct the government to work for reducing the poverty of the masses and to bring economic and social prosperity of the nation.