India,
also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular
Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is
governed in terms of the Constitution of India which was adopted by the
Constituent Assembly on 26th November, 1949 and came into force on 26th
January, 1950. The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government
which is federal in structure with certain unitary features. The constitutional
head of the Executive of the Union is the President. As per Article 79 of the
Constitution of India, the council of the Parliament of the Union consists of
the President and two Houses known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and
the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides
that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head
to aid and advise the President, who shall exercise his/her functions in
accordance to the advice. The real executive power is thus vested in the
Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head.
The Indian Constitution is one of the
longest documents in the world, and is possibly the most important in India.
And here's what you didn't know about it.
It has 448 articles, 12 schedules and 98
amendments. On the other hand, the American constitution is the shortest.
The Constituent Assembly had 284 members, out of which 15 were
women. The Drafting Committee submitted the draft in November 1949, after which they took three
more years to complete it.
It wasn’t typed or printed. The original
copies are kept safely inside helium-filled cases in the library of the
Parliament of India.
The Indian Constitution has taken various
features from other constitutions. The concepts of liberty, equality and
fraternity were taken from the French Constitution. The idea of 5 year plans
was taken from the USSR and the concept of socio-economic rights was taken from
Ireland. Most importantly, the law on which the Supreme Court works was taken
from Japan. There are many other concepts that have been borrowed from other
countries.
284 members of the Constituent Assembly
signed the handwritten documents on January 24, 1950. Two days after, on 26th
January, India celebrated its first Republic Day.
The national emblem of India is an
adapted version of the Sarnath Lion of Ashoka.
Ambedkar was the chief architect of our
constitution. It is because of him that our constitution covers a wide range of
civil liberties including the freedom of religion and the abolition of
untouchability.
