Indian Constitution
The first Indian Constitution framed and given to themselves by the people of India, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 Nov 1949. It came into existence with full effect from 26 Jan 1950. The Indian Constitution originally had 22 parts, 395 articles and 8 schedules. The constitution is amended from time to time. During the last 70 years, there have been as many as 105 amendments. There are also 4 new schedules added to the constitution and the number of articles also increased. The Indian Constitution is unique in content as well as the spirit of the Constitution is also unique. The main feature of the Indian Constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination among members of society.
Making of the Indian Constitution
In 1934, M.N.Roy put forward the idea of Constituent Assembly for India for the first time. He was a pioneer of the communist movement in India. The Indian National Congress in 1935 officially demanded the Constituent Assembly to frame the Indian Constitution. On behalf of INC in the Year 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru declared that the constitution of free India must be framed without any outside interference, by the Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of an Adult franchise.
Working of the Constituent Assembly
It held its first meeting on December 9, 1946. The Muslim League insisted on a separate state of Pakistan and boycotted the meeting. The meeting was attended by only 211 members, Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, was elected as the temporary President of the Assembly. After some time, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Assembly and H.C. Mukherjee and V.T. Krishnamachari both were elected as the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly.
Indian Constitution Preamble
The term ‘Preamble’ refers to the preface or introduction to the Indian Constitution. It contains the essence of the Constitution. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is also called the ‘identity card of the Constitution.’ It is based on the ‘Objectives Resolution’, drafted and moved by Pandit Nehru, and adopted by the Constituent Assembly and it has been amended by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, which added three new words–Socialist, Secular and Integrity.
Ingredients of the Preamble
The Preamble reveals four ingredients:
1. Source of the authority of the Indian Constitution-It states that the Constitution derives its authority from the people of India.
2. Nature of Indian State- Preamble declares India to be of a socialists, sovereign, democratic, secular and republican polity.
3. Objectives of the Indian Constitution- It specifies liberty, justice, equality and fraternity as the objectives.
Indian Constitution- Committee
The Constituent Assembly appointed many committees to deal with different duties and tasks of Indian Constitution-making. Out of these, there were eight major committees and the others were minor committees.
Major Committees
| Sno | Committee | Chairman |
| 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. |
| 6 | Rules of Procedure Committee | Dr Rajendra Prasad |
| 7 | States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 8 | Steering Committee | Dr Rajendra Prasad |
Drafting Committee
Among all the committees, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee, which was set up on August 29, 1947.Drafting Committee preparing a draft of the new Indian Constitution. It consisted of seven members.
| Sno | Members |
| 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) |
Indian Constitution Salient Features
The Indian Constitution is unique in content as well as the spirit of the Constitution is also unique. The main feature of the constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination among members of society. The Indian Constitution was borrowed from almost every constitution of the world but it distinguishes it from the Indian Constitutions of other countries. There is a number of original features of the Constitution change, on account of several amendments, particularly the 7th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 97th and 101st Amendments. The 42nd Amendment Act (1976) is known as ‘Mini-Constitution Because of the important and large number of changes made by it in various parts of the Constitution.
The salient features of the Indian Constitution are as follows:
1. Lengthiest Written Constitution
2. Drawn From Various Sources
3. Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility
4. Federal System with Unitary Bias
5. Parliamentary Form of Government
6. Synthesis of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy
7. Integrated and Independent Judiciary
8. Fundamental Rights
9. Directive Principles of State Policy
10. Fundamental Duties
11. A Secular State
12. Universal Adult Franchise
13. Single Citizenship
14. Independent Bodies
15. Emergency Provisions
16. Three-tier Government
17. Co-operative Societies