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SALIENT FEATURES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION


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ü Indian Constitution is a written Constitution.  

ü It is the largest Constitution. It is because
ü It incorporated all the experiences gathered from the working of the all the known constitutions in the World.
ü To avoid all defects and loopholes that might be anticipated from the light of other constitutions.
ü To minimize uncertainty.
ü Majority of the provisions were borrowed from the GOI (Government of India) act 1935 because people were familiar with the existing system.
ü It is explained in detail manner otherwise the new democracy may be jeopardized (make vulnerable, risk).
ü Vastness of the country.
ü Multifarious challenges in the country.
ü The division of powers between the union and states is so exhaustive.



ü It is a single Constitution for the entire country except for Jammu and Kashmir.

INDIAN CONSTITUTION IS BOTH RIGID AND FLEXIBLE.

ü It is rigid, means there a special procedure for amending the Constitution.
ü It is flexible, means that with an ordinary procedure some areas in the constitution can be amended.  

FEDERAL SYSTEM :
ü It means the division of powers between centre and states.
ü remember the word “Federation” is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution).  
ü Though India is a federation it also has unitary features.


PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF GOVERNMENT:
ü This forms talks about the presence of nominal (Dejure) and real (defacto) executives.
ü Majority party rule.
ü Collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha.
ü Leadership of the Prime Minister (Chief Minister at the state level).
ü The dissolution of Lok Sabha. (This type of government is present at both central and state levels).

Fundamental rights:
ü These are for the promotion of political democracy. T
ü These are justiciable i.e they are enforceable by the courts for their violation.
ü Originally 7 fundamental rights were mentioned in the constitution.
ü Through the 44th amendment ‘Right To Property’ has been deleted from the list of Fundamental Rights.
ü At present only 6 fundamental rights are mentioned.


DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY (DPSP):
ü They seek to establish welfare state in India.
ü These are non-justiciable. (Cannot be challenged in the court of law)
(*In the Minerva Mills case of 1980 the Supreme Court held that the Indian Constitution is founded on the bedrock of the balance between the Fundamental Rights and DPSP).

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES:
ü Added through 42nd amendment in the year 1976.
ü They were added on the recommendations of swaran Singh Committee.
ü Part IV A was added for accommodating Fundamental Duties. 
ü Originally 10 Fundamental Duties were added.
ü 11th Fundamental Duty was added in the year 2002 through the 86th Constitutional amendment.
ü At present 11 fundamental duties are mentioned in part IVA.


SECULAR STATE:
ü (Equal respect to all religions).
ü The Constitution does not uphold the any particular religion as the official religion.


UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE:
ü All adults are permitted to vote.
ü The original constitution permitted all the people who are not less than 21 years of age to vote.
ü Through the 61st amendment voting age has been reduced from 21 to 18 in the year 1989.


EMERGENCY PROVISIONS:
ü Provided for 3 types of emergencies.
ü National Emergency
ü State Emergency or President’s Rule
ü Financial Emergency
ü During National emergency India from the state of Federation it becomes Unitary.


3 TIER GOVERNMENT:
ü Through 73rd and 74th amendments 3 tier structures was created.
ü Panchayati Raj and Municipalities are made the Constitutional bodies.



Which of the following determines that the Indian Constitution is federal?
a.     A written and a rigid constitution
b.     An independent judiciary
c.      Vesting of the residuary powers with the centre
d.    Distribution of powers between the centre and the states                 (Answer: D)


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