Polity Notes : Salient Features of Indian Constitution

Lengthy Constitution

Indian Constitution has 395 Articles and 12 Schedules. It was framed by a Constituent Assembly which was established for the purpose in 1946. 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.

India is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic State

The Constitution declares India to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic.

• Sovereign means absolutely independent, it is not under the control of any other state.
• Socialist involves a system which will endeavour to avoid concentration of wealth in a few hands and will assure its equitable distribution. It also implies that India is against exploitation in all forms and believes in economic justice to all its citizens.
• Secular means there is no state religion in India. Every citizen is free to follow and practice the religion of his/her own choice. The state cannot discriminate among its citizens on the basis of the religion.
• Democratic means that the power of the government is vested in the hands of the people, people exercise this power through their elected representatives who are responsible to them. All citizens enjoy equal political rights.
• Republic means that the head of the state is not a hereditary monarch.

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 level. The powers of the government are divided between the central government and the state government.

Fundamental Rights & Fundamental Duties: Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties are most important characteristics of the Constitution. Fundamental Rights are considered to be essential for the proper moral and material uplift of people. These rights are fundamental in the sense that any law passed by the legislature in the country would be declared as null and void if it is derogatory to the rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Parliamentary Government: Indian Constitution provides a parliamentary form of government. President is nominal head of the state. 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.

Partly rigid and partly flexible: The Constitution of India is neither wholly rigid nor wholly flexible. It is partly rigid and partly flexible.

• Certain provisions of the constitution can be amended by a simple majority in the Parliament.
• Certain provisions can be amended by two-third majority of the Parliament and its ratification by at least fifty percent states.
• 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 of United States of America, is also a citizen of the state in which he or she resides. But the constitution of India provides single citizenship to every Indian.

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.