Background: Constitution of India
- India, commonly known as Bharat, is a state union. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic governed by a parliamentary system.
- The Republic is governed by the Constitution of India, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 and went into effect on January 26, 1950.
- The Constituent Assembly was established in 1946 and was composed of representatives of provincial assemblies.
- There were 299 people in total. Dr Rajendra Prasad presided over this Assembly.
- A Drafting Committee was constituted to design the constitution.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, known as the “Father of the Indian Constitution,” presided over the Drafting Committee.
Who drafted the Indian Constitution?
· The Indian Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was founded in December 1946.
· The Constituent Assembly had 300 members in 1946. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was in charge of the project.
· On August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly formed a Drafting Committee, chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, to prepare a Constitution for India.
· The Assembly proposed, debated, and voted on 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 presented during its debates on the draught Constitution.
· On November 26, 1949, the Indian Constitution was adopted, and members of Parliament signed it on January 24, 1950. The Constitution was signed by a total of 284 persons.
· It rained on the day the Constitution was signed, which was interpreted as a good omen.
· On January 2, 1950, the Indian Constitution went into effect. On that date, the Assembly ceased to exist, and the Provisional Parliament of India was established until a new Parliament was founded in 1952.
Composition of the Constituent Assembly
· The Indian National Congress won 208 seats in the Assembly elections in 1946, while the Muslim League secured 73 seats, leaving 15 seats open for independents.
· Because it was the Cabinet Mission that proposed the notion of a Constituent Assembly, the Assembly’s composition was determined in accordance with the Cabinet Mission scheme.
· The decision of the Princely States not to participate in the Constituent Assembly resulted in the vacancy of 93 seats.
· Although members of the Constituent Assembly were not directly chosen by the Indian people, it included delegates from all sections of society, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians, SCs/STs, Backward Classes, and women from all of these groups.
· This resulted in some characteristics from which it might be deduced that the Constituent Assembly was designed to be a body with members who were partly elected and partially nominated.
Enactment and enforcement of the Constitution
· After three sets of readings of the Draft prepared by the Drafting Committee and published in October 1948, the Constitution was accepted on November 26, 1949, with a Preamble, 395 Articles, and 8 Schedules.
· On November 26, 1949, the motion on Draft Constitution was declared passed, gaining the signatures of the members as well as the President.
· It should be emphasised that the Preamble was enacted after the Constitution.
· Some of the 395 Articles, such as Articles 5 to 9, Articles 379, 380, 388, 392, and 393, went into effect on November 26, 1949.
· The remaining Articles went into effect on January 26, 1950, Republic Day.
· The Indian Independence Act of 1947 and the Government of India Act of 1935 were repealed once the Constitution of India took effect.
· Our Constitution currently has 448 Articles, 25 Parts, and 12 Schedules.
Parts of The Indian Constitution:
| Parts | Subject Matter | Articles |
| I | The Union and its territory | 1 to 4 |
| II | Citizenship | 5 to 11 |
| III | Fundamental Rights | 12 to 35 |
| IV | Directive Principles of State Policy | 36 to 51 |
| IV-A | Fundamental Duties | 51-A |
| V | The Union Government | 52 to 151 |
| Chapter I – The Executive | 52 to 78 | |
| Chapter II – Parliament | 79 to 122 | |
| Chapter III – Legislative Powers of President | 123 | |
| Chapter IV – The Union Judiciary | 124 to 147 | |
| Chapter V – Comptroller and Auditor-General of India | 148 to 151 | |
| VI | The State Governments | 152 to 237 |
| Chapter I – General | 152 | |
| Chapter II – The Executive | 153 to 167 | |
| Chapter III – The State Legislature | 168 to 212 | |
| Chapter IV – Legislative Powers of Governor | 213 | |
| Chapter V – The High Courts | 214 to 232 | |
| Chapter VI – Subordinate Courts | 233 to 237 | |
| VIII | The Union Territories | 239 to 242 |
| IX | The Panchayats | 243 to 243-O |
| IX-A | The Municipalities | 243-P to 243-ZG |
| IX-B | The Co-operative Societies | 243-ZH to 243-ZT |
| X | The Scheduled and Tribal Areas | 244 to 244-A |
| XI | Relations between the Union and the States | 245 to 263 |
| Chapter I – Legislative Relations | 245 to 255 | |
| Chapter II – Administrative Relations | 256 to 263 | |
| XII | Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits | 264 to 300-A |
| Chapter I – Finance | 264 to 291 | |
| Chapter II – Borrowing | 292 to 293 | |
| Chapter III – Property, Contracts, Rights, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits | 294 to 300 | |
| Chapter IV – Right to Property | 300-A | |
| XIII | Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the Territory of India | 301 to 307 |
| XIV | Services under the Union and the States | 308 to 323 |
| Chapter I – Services | 308 to 314 | |
| Chapter II – Public Service Commissions | 315 to 323 | |
| XIV-A | Tribunals | 323-A to 323-B |
| XV | Elections | 324 to 329-A |
| XVI | Special Provisions relating to Certain Classes | 330 to 342 |
| XVII | Official Languages | 343 to 351 |
| Chapter I – Language of the Union | 343 to 344 | |
| Chapter II – Regional Languages | 345 to 347 | |
| Chapter III-Language of the Supreme Court, High Courts, and so on | 348 to 349 | |
| Chapter IV-Special Directives | 350 to 351 | |
| XVIII | Emergency Provisions | 352 to 360 |
| XIX | Miscellaneous | 361 to 367 |
| XX | Amendment of the Constitution | 368 |
| XXI | Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions | 369 to 392 |
| XXII | Short title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals |
Schedules of the Indian Constitution
- There are 12 schedules in the Indian Constitution. The original constitution only had eight schedules.
- The 1st, 52nd, 73rd, and 74th Constitutional Amendments Acts later added the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth schedules, respectively.
| Schedule | Subject Matter |
| First Schedule | 1. Names of the States and their territorial jurisdiction. |
| 2. Names of the Union Territories and their extent. | |
| Second Schedule | Provisions relating to the emoluments, allowances, privileges and so on of: |
| 1. The President of India | |
| 2. The Governors of States | |
| 3. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha | |
| 4. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha | |
| 5. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the states | |
| 6. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council in the states | |
| 7. The Judges of the Supreme Court | |
| 8. The Judges of the High Courts | |
| 9. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India | |
| Third Schedule | Forms of Oaths or Affirmations for: |
| 1.The Union ministers | |
| 2. The candidates for election to the Parliament | |
| 3. The members of Parliament | |
| 4. The judges of the Supreme Court | |
| 5. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India | |
| 6. The state ministers | |
| 7. The candidates for election to the state legislature | |
| 8. The members of the state legislature | |
| 9. The judges of the High Courts | |
| Fourth Schedule | Allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and the union territories. |
| Fifth Schedule | Provisions relating to the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes. |
| Sixth Schedule | Provisions relating to the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. |
| Seventh Schedule | Division of powers between the Union and the States in terms of List I (Union List), List II (State List) and List III (Concurrent List). Presently, the Union List contains 100 subjects (originally 97), the state list contains 61 subjects (originally 66) and the concurrent list contains 52 subjects (originally 47). |
| Eighth Schedule | Languages recognized by the Constitution. Originally, it had 14 languages but presently there are 22 languages. They are: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri (Dongri), Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Mathili (Maithili), Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Sindhi was added by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967; Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added by the 71 st Amendment Act of 1992; and Bodo, Dongri, Maithili and Santhali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003. |
| Ninth Schedule | Acts and Regulations (originally 13 but presently 282) 19 of the state legislatures dealing with land reforms and the abolition of the zamindari system and of the. Parliament dealing with other matters. This schedule was added by the 1st Amendment (1951) to protect the laws included in it from judicial scrutiny on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. However, in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the laws included in this schedule after April 24, 1973, are now open to judicial review. |
| Tenth Schedule | Provisions relating to the disqualification of the members of Parliament and State Legislatures on the ground of defection. This schedule was added by the 52nd Amendment Act of 1985, also known as Anti-defection Law. |
| Eleventh Schedule | Specifies the powers, authority and responsibilities ofPanchayats. It has 29 matters. This schedule was added by the 73rd Amendment Act of 1992. |
| Twelfth Schedule | Specifies the powers, authority, and responsibilities of Municipalities. It has 18 matters. This schedule was added by the 74th Amendment Act of 1992. |
Significance of Constitution of India
- According to Article 79 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Parliament’s council consists of the President and two Houses known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
- According to Article 74(1) of the Constitution, there shall be a Council of Ministers, led by the Prime Minister, to assist and advise the President, who shall conduct his/her powers in accordance with the advice.
- The Indian Constitution is a source of pride for our country. It is the supreme law of India, and no one in India, including the President, has the authority to disobey a constitutional rule.
- It guarantees the people’s fundamental rights and establishes the rules and guidelines that the government must follow.
- The Constitution calls for a Parliamentary system of government that is federal in structure but has some unitary elements. The President is the Union’s constitutional leader of the Executive.
Constitution of India FAQs
Q1 What is the number of articles in the Indian Constitution?
A1 The Indian Constitution is divided into 22 parts and has 395 articles. Later, through various changes, further articles and portions are added. The Indian Constitution also includes 12 schedules.
Q2 When did the Indian constitution begin to take shape?
A2 The Republic is governed by the Constitution of India, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 and went into effect on January 26, 1950.
Q3 What is the significance of the Constitution?
A3 A constitution is vital because it ensures that individuals who make decisions on behalf of the people do so fairly.
Q4 How many articles, parts and schedules are there in Constitution?
A4 Now the Constitution of India has 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules and to add to this all 105 amendments.
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