Civics - Constitutional Design

2.2. WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION?

helps to say — how the rulers are to be chosen in future, determine what the elected governments are empowered to do and what they cannot do, decide the rights of the citizen.

These rules will be supreme and no government can ignore these. This set of basic rules is called the constitution.

All over the world people have different interests and opinions. Whether democratic or not, most countries in the world need to have these basic rules.

Constitution - A set of written rules that are accepted by all the people living together in a country. Supreme law of a country, containing fundamental rules governing the politics and society in a country. Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship among people living in a territory (citizens) and also the relationship between the people and the government.

What does a constitution do?

• It generates a level of trust and co-ordination that is necessary for different kind of people that live together.

• Specifies how the government will be constituted and who will have the power to take which decisions.

• Lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us the rights of the citizens.

• It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a new society.

All countries that have constitutions are not necessarily democratic. But all countries that are democratic have a constitution.

examples — after war of independence against great britain, the americans gave themselves a constitution. after the french revolution, the people of france approved a democratic constitution.

2.3 MAKING OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION -

Constitution was very hard to make because India is a very huge and diverse country. People of india were emerging from the status of subjects to citizens. The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious differences. This was a traumatic experience for both India and Pakistan.

10 lakh people were killed on both sides due to partition violence. The british left it to the rulers whether they wanted to merge with india / pakistan or remain independent. The merging of hse princely states was a difficult and uncertain task.

THE PATH TO CONSTITUTION -

The advantage for the makers of the Indian Constitution - they did not have to create a consensus about what a democratic India should look like. Much of this consensus evolved during the freedom struggle.

Our national movement was not just a struggle against a foreign rule — also a struggle to transform our society and politics.

1928 - Motilal Nehru and 8 other congress leaders drafted the first constitution for india.

1931 - resolution at the karachi session of the indian national congress dwelt on how independent india should look like.

Both of the documents were committed to the inclusion of the — universal adult franchise, right to freedom / equality, protecting the rights of minority. All leaders accepted the basic values before Constitution Assembly met to discuss the Constitution.

Familiarity with political institutions of colonial rule also helped develop an agreement over the constitutional design. British only gave voting rights to a few. In 1937, elections held for provincial legislatures and ministries all over british india. Not fully democratic. Experience gained in working of legislative institutions proved very helpful t set up their own and work in the. That is why Indian Constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India Act, 1935.

Inspired by — ideals of french revolution, parliamentary democracy in britain and bill of rights in the US, socialist revolution in russia (system based on social and economic equality. They were imitating the other countries. They questioned whether it would suit India. These were all factors that lead to the making of the indian constitution.

THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY -

An assembly of people’s representatives that writes a constitution for a country.

Drafting of the constitution was done by an assembly of elected representatives called the constituent assembly. Elections for it was held on July 1946. Its first meeting was held in december 1946. Soon india and pakistan were divided. Constituent assembly also divided into that of india / pakistan.

• Constituent Assembly for india had 299 members.

• The assembly adopted the constitution on 26 November 1949

• The constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950

• To mark this da, 26 January is celebrated as republic day each year.

Why should we accept this constitution made by the constituent assembly?

The constitution does not reflect the values of its members alone. it expresses a broad consensus of its time. Many counties had to rewrite their constitutions because it was not acceptable for all social / political groups. In other countries, constitution is a mere piece of paper which nobody follows. In our country — several groups have questioned some of the provisions of the constitution. but no large social / political group has ever questioned the legitimacy of the constitution itself.

The constitution represented the people of india. there was no universal adult franchise. so the constituent assembly could not be chosen directly by all the people of india. only members of the provincial legislatures were allowed to vote. This ensured a fair geographical share of members from all the religions in the country. The assembly was dominated by INC (included a variety of political groups and opinions). The assembly represented members from different language groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations.

The manner in which the constituent assembly works to give sanctity to the constitution. They worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. Firstly, some basic principles were decided and agreed upon. Drafting committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar prepared a draft (preliminary version of a legal document) constitution. Several rounds of discussion for each clause (A distinct section of a document). more than 2000 amendments were considered. the member discussed for 114 days over 3 years. every document presented and word spoken is recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’ — 12 volumes. They explain each provision and interpret the meaning of the constitution.

2.4. GUIDING VALUES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION -

overall philosophy (The most fundamental principles underlying one’s thoughts and actions) of the constitution — reading the views of the major leaders on our constitution and what the constitution says about its own philosophy — preamble.

THE DREAM AND THE PROMISE -

Mahatma Gandhi was not a member of the constituent assembly. in his magazine young india in 1931 — dream of eliminated inequality was shared with Dr. Ambedkar, he had a different understanding about how inequalities could be removed. He often criticized Mahatma Gandhi and his vision.

Jawaharlal Nehru gave his famous speech to the constituent assembly at midnight on 15th August 1947.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE CONSTITUTION -

Values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle formed the foundation of india’s democracy. the values were embedded in the preamble of the Indian constitution. they guide all the articles of the constitution.

The constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values — Preamble to the constitution. An introductory statement in a constitution which states the reasons and guiding values of the constitution

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA - The constitution is drawn and enacted by the people through their representatives and not handed to them by any outside powers.

SOVEREIGN - People have the supreme right to make decisions on internal and external matters. no external power can dictate the government of india.

SOCIALIST - Wealth is generated socially and should be equally shared by society. Government should regulate ownership of land and industries to reduce socio-economic inequalities.

SECULAR - Citizens have freedom to follow any religion. there is no official religion. all religious beliefs and practices are to be treated with equal respect.

DEMOCRATIC - A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers and hold them accountable.

REPUBLIC - The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position.

JUSTICE - Citizens cannot be discriminated on the basis of caste, religion and gender. Social inequalities to be reduced.

LIBERTY - No unreasonable restrictions — what citizens think, how they wish to express their thoughts and how they wish to follow up their thoughts in action.

EQUALITY - All are equal before the law. and the government should ensure equal opportunity for all.

FRATERNITY - All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family, no one should be treated as inferior.

INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN -

A constitution is mainly about embodying these values into institutional arrangements. It needs to be amended regularly to keep it updated to be in accordance with people‘s aspirations and changes in society. They did not see it as a sacred, static and unalterable law. They made provisions to make changes from time to time — constitutional amendments (change in the constitution made by the supreme legislative body in a country).

Indian Constitution lays down a procedure to govern the country. It defines who will have how much power to take which decisions. It puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the citizen that cannot be violated.