Revisiting Indian Constitution

To begin with, read the chapter 13 of class VIII Social Studies textbook and complete the following tasks regarding the Indian Constitution:

Background of Nepal

In 1959, the first elections were held in Nepal under a new constitution issued by King Mahendra. However, within a year, the elected government was overturned and substantial power reverted back to the King. People’s continuous struggle for a democratic representative government finally led to elections in 1991. In these elections, the Congress Party of  Nepal came to power with a huge majority. The Communist Party was however not satisfied with this system of government in which the monarchy still had a dominant say. They wanted a complete overhaul of the political system and an abolition of monarchy. The movement transformed itself into an armed conflict between the pro and anti-monarchy groups. This struggle culminated in 2007 with the abolition of monarchy.

Reading debates

The Constitution of any country provides a certain basic structure and principles according to which its state would function and future of the nation would be decided. Thus, a Constitution has a double purpose: a) outlining the role and rights of citizens, as well as defining the structure and powers of the government and its organs like executive, legislature, judiciary etc; b) indicating the nature of future society which has to be built by the joint efforts of the state and the society. The Constitution thus essentially maps the framework for the future highlighting how the current situation needs to be modified to move forward. In Nepal, the process of making of Constitution began in 2007 and it was still not completed in 2015. This was largely because different political trends of Nepal could not come to a common agreement on many basic issues. The process of making a Constitution is thus a process of debate, discussion, ironing out differences and working out a framework this is acceptable to all the conflicting opinions. Let us see how this happened in India.

The Making of Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India was prepared and adopted by the Constituent  Assembly. This was the culmination of the long struggle of the Indian people for freedom from British colonial rule. As the British government decided to give freedom to the people of India, a new Constitution was needed through which the people of India could rule themselves and set long term objectives for themselves. For this purpose, Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946, following the election to the provincial assemblies. The Constituent Assembly members wereelected indirectly by the members of the provincial assemblies. The Cabinet Mission appointed in 1946 allotted seats to each Province and each Princely State or group of States. Accordingly, Provinces or areas under direct British rule elected 292 members and all Princely States together elected 93 members. The plan also guaranteed that the seats in each Province had members from the major communities in India : Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others, in proportion to their respective populations. The Council also ensured that 26 members from Scheduled Castes are represented in the Assembly. While elections were held in Provincial legislative houses, representatives of Princely States were identified through consultation.  In all it had only nine women members. The Indian National Congress was the single largest party with 69% of all seats followed by the Muslim League which had most of the seats reserved for Muslims.

As you can see, the Constituent Assembly (CA) was not elected through universal adult franchise, but indirectly and as such did not represent all sections of Indian society. Only about 10% of the population could vote in the provincial elections then. In fact, the members from the princely states were not elected at all and were decided through consultation with the concerned princely states. Such a decision was taken keeping in view  the special situation that had arisen due to intense political activity on the eve of freedom and mounting tensions among the people. The princely states had not yet agreed to become part of the Indian Union and many of them hoped to remain independent kingdoms. That is why their representatives were asked to join the Assembly.

The future of India that we have envisaged is not confined to any group or section or province or other, but it comprises all the four hundred million people of India… there is a duty cast upon us and that is to bear the absentees in mind, to remember always that we are here not to function for one party or one group, but always to think of India as a whole and always to think of the welfare of the four hundred millions that comprise India. ...it seems to me, the time has come when we should, so far as we are capable of it, rise above our ordinary selves and party disputes and think of the great problem before us in the widest and most tolerant and most effective manner so that, whatever we may produce, should be worthy of India as a whole and should be such that the world should recognise that we have functioned, as we should have functioned, in this high adventure.”

A ‘Drafting Committee’ was set up under the chairmanship of  Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and its task was to prepare the final draft taking in account all view points. Various important aspects of the Constitution were discussed in great depth and the Assembly gave broad directions on them. The final draft was presented before the CA for discussion and approval. The Constitution was finally adopted by the CA on 26th November 1949 and it came into force on 26th January 1950.