The Constitution of India — An Introduction
Governance and Democracy — complete NCERT notes with diagrams, 3-mark questions and fill-in-the-blanks
The Big Questions
- What is a constitution, and why do we need one?
- How was the Indian Constitution prepared?
- How did our freedom struggle and civilisational heritage influence the Constitution?
- What are the key features of the Constitution of India? Why is it still relevant, even though it was written more than seventy years ago?
🧠 Mind Map — Part 1 at a glance
- Republic Day
- 26 January 1950 — the Constitution came into effect
- The original is kept in a helium-filled case in Parliament
- What is a constitution?
- A nation’s basic principles and laws
- Framework of the three organs, checks and balances
- Rights and duties of citizens, long-term goals
- Why we need one
- Like an agreed rulebook that settles disputes
- 25 Parts and 12 Schedules — world’s largest written constitution
- Writing it
- Constituent Assembly formed 1946 — 389 members, 15 women
- Rajendra Prasad chaired it; Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee
- Adopted 26 Nov 1949 · in force 26 Jan 1950
Republic Day and the Constitution
- Every 26 January the Republic Day Parade is held, with marching bands, vibrant displays and the unfurling of the tricolour at Kartavya Path in Delhi.
- The day carries deep significance — it marks the coming into effect of the Indian Constitution on 26 January 1950.
- The original Constitution is carefully preserved in a helium-filled glass case in Parliament.
- The Constitution of India is the document that many important officials pledge to uphold:
- The president takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend it
- The prime minister, the council of ministers and the judges promise to follow its provisions
A gas that does not react with paper or ink, helping to preserve the Constitution over time.
A document that lays down the basic principles and laws of a nation.
What Is a Constitution?
- A simple answer: it is a document that spells out a nation’s basic principles and laws.
🏛️ The three organs
- The framework of the three organs of government — legislature, executive and judiciary
- And their roles and responsibilities
⚖️ Checks and balances
- Checks and balances amongst the three organs
- To ensure fairness, responsibility and accountability
👥 Citizens
- The rights and duties of the citizens
🎯 The future
- An outline of the long-term goals and aspirations of the nation
Why do we need a constitution?
- Think of a kabaddi final. A player is caught, a dispute breaks out, and both captains claim to be right.
- The referee settles it by pulling out the official rulebook — the captains read the rules and agree.
- The dispute ends peacefully for one reason only: everyone had already agreed to abide by the same written rules.
- Without a rulebook, the stronger or louder side would simply win.
- Our Constitution is something like a rulebook for the country.
- Just as a textbook has sections and chapters, the Constitution of India has 25 Parts and 12 Schedules, and each Part has sections within it.
- It is the world’s largest written constitution.
- When it came into effect it had only 22 Parts and 8 Schedules — the numbers have grown since 1950.
- The basic rules and principles in a constitution determine:
- What kind of government there will be
- How it will be formed
- How it will function
- A constitution describes, for example:
- How laws are to be made and implemented
- Who elects the executive
- How the judiciary is made
- What rights and duties individual citizens have
- Many constitutions, including India’s, also state the values and ideals the country is committed to — equality and justice for all, fraternity, pluralism and freedom.
- It is these values and ideals that usually form the basis for the laws and principles in a constitution.
Writing the Constitution of India
- As President of the Constituent Assembly at the very start of the writing process, he wished the members success.
- He hoped their proceedings would be marked by good sense, public spirit and genuine patriotism.
- And also by wisdom, toleration, justice and fairness to all.
- Above all, by a vision that would restore India to her former glory and give her a place of honour and equality among the great nations of the world.
- While India was still struggling for independence from British rule, it was necessary to start planning how we would govern ourselves.
- Many important questions had to be answered in a large, culturally diverse and complex country:
- What type of government should we have?
- What rules and principles should guide us?
- Who should have the right to vote?
- How should we decide on disputes?
- To answer these, a Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946:
- Initially 389 members
- Later reduced to 299 after the Partition of India
- Of these, 15 were women
- Members represented India’s diverse regions, professions and social groups
How was our Constitution developed?
- The Indian Constitution was developed and written by the Constituent Assembly over a period of almost three years.
- The Assembly was formed on 9 December 1946.
- Its members were elected by the legislative assemblies of the provinces — whose own members had, in turn, been elected by the people.
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
- The initial text was prepared by a Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar — an eminent social reformer and the first Law and Justice minister of independent India.
Numbers to remember
| Number | What it stands for |
|---|---|
| 389 | Members of the Constituent Assembly at the start |
| 299 | Members after the Partition of India |
| 15 | Women members of the Constituent Assembly |
| Almost 3 years | Time taken to write the Constitution |
| 25 Parts, 12 Schedules | Size of the Constitution today |
| 22 Parts, 8 Schedules | Size when it came into effect in 1950 |
| 9 December 1946 | Constituent Assembly formed |
| 26 November 1949 | Constitution adopted |
| 26 January 1950 | Constitution came into effect — Republic Day |
Fig. D7 — Every number in this chapter that an examiner can ask for, in one place.
✍️ Part 1 — Three-Mark Questions
SHOW ANSWER
- A constitution is a document that spells out a nation’s basic principles and laws.
- It lays out the framework of the three organs — legislature, executive and judiciary — and their roles and responsibilities.
- It lays out checks and balances amongst them, to ensure fairness, responsibility and accountability.
- It lays out the rights and duties of citizens.
- It outlines the long-term goals and aspirations of the nation.
SHOW ANSWER
- It was formed in 1946, on 9 December 1946, to decide how independent India would govern itself.
- It began with 389 members, later reduced to 299 after the Partition of India; 15 were women.
- Members were elected by the legislative assemblies of the provinces, whose members had themselves been elected by the people.
- They represented India’s diverse regions, professions and social groups.
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the Chairman; the Drafting Committee was chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
SHOW ANSWER
- On 26 November 1949 the drafting work was completed and the document was adopted as the Constitution of India.
- On 26 January 1950 that document came into effect.
- So the two dates mark adoption and commencement — a gap of about two months.
- Because of the second date we celebrate Republic Day every year on 26 January.
📝 Part 1 — Fill in the Blanks
- The Indian Constitution came into effect on .
- The original Constitution is preserved in a -filled glass case in Parliament.
- The takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
- The Constitution of India is the world’s largest constitution.
- Today the Constitution has 25 Parts and Schedules.
- The Constituent Assembly was formed in the year .
- It began with members.
- Of the members of the Constituent Assembly, were women.
- was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
- The Drafting Committee was chaired by .
SHOW ANSWERS
- 26 January 1950
- helium
- president
- written
- 12
- 1946
- 389
- 15
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
🧠 Mind Map — Part 2 at a glance
- Three influences
- The Indian freedom movement
- India’s civilisational heritage and culture
- Constitutions of other countries
- From the freedom struggle
- Equality, justice, freedom, fraternity
- Leaders of the movement sat in the Constituent Assembly
- From our heritage
- Vasudhaiva kutumbakam · sarve bhavantu sukhinah
- Janapadas, sanghas, saptānga, rājadharma
- Led to the Fundamental Duties
- From across the world
- France — liberty, equality, fraternity
- Ireland — Directive Principles
- USA — independent judiciary
What Shaped and Influenced the Indian Constitution?
- The Constitution was developed by the Constituent Assembly — but it had many influences.
🇮🇳 The freedom movement
- The experience, ideas and ideals of the Indian freedom movement were a significant influence
🕉️ Civilisational heritage
- India’s civilisational heritage and culture played a key role
🌍 Other countries
- Useful learnings from the constitutions of other countries were also considered
Influence of the Indian Freedom Movement
- Many key ideals and values of the Indian freedom struggle were enshrined in the Constitution.
- The Constitution was the cornerstone for an independent India.
- A number of leaders of India’s freedom movement were members of the Constituent Assembly, and therefore carried their experience and ideas from the freedom struggle straight into the Constitution.
- Some of these values and ideals were:
- Equality of all
- Justice for all
- Freedom
- Fraternity
- Preservation of India’s cultural heritage
- The idea of using the Constitution as a tool for and means of achieving these values and ideals
The ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions the freedom struggle helped answer
India’s civilisational heritage and history
- In Grade 6, in the chapter on “Unity in Diversity, or ‘Many in the One'”, we studied what makes India one country and the underlying unity that embraces its diversity.
- This idea of India being one country is embedded in the Constitution.
- Some fundamental principles are embedded in our culture:
- Acceptance of the idea that people could have different points of view
- Nature as sacred
- The pursuit of learning and knowledge
- Respect for women
- Vasudhaiva kutumbakam — “the world is one family”
- Sarve bhavantu sukhinah — an invocation for the well-being of all creatures
- All these principles find a place in our Constitution, though you might find them expressed a little differently.
- Earlier we studied various types of governance systems experimented with in India:
- Janapadas and sanghas
- Rulers and their councils
- Kauṭilya’s concept of saptānga
- Rājadharma
- On the whole, there has been a great emphasis on the duties and role of the people in governance.
- It was therefore quite natural that the Constitution makers would bring these ideas of our civilisational heritage into the Constitution — the ‘Fundamental Duties’, for instance, are part of it.
Learnings from across the world
- The Indian tradition of ā no bhadrāh kratavo yantu viśhwatah means “Let noble thoughts come to me from every side”.
- In that spirit, the Constitution makers studied the constitutions of France, the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia and other countries with a democratic system — to explore their usefulness for our own context.
| Borrowed from | What was taken | Note |
|---|---|---|
| France | The ideals of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ | France’s constitution had enshrined them from the French Revolution of 1789 |
| Ireland | The idea of the Directive Principles of State Policy | Inspired by the Irish Constitution |
| USA | The concept of an independent judiciary | Shaped by the American Constitution |
Fig. D9 — A favourite exam question: match the country to the idea India adopted from it.
- Formulated during the 1789 French Revolution.
- It focused on equality, liberty and justice for all.
- It helped spread such ideals in many parts of the world.
- Many constitutions — including the French one — adopted or adapted its values and principles.
Some illustrations in the Constitution of India
- The pages of the Constitution were illustrated with scenes from Indian history, and each illustration sits at the opening of a Part.
- Notice the sweep: from an ancient gurukula through the two epics, temple sculpture, Mughal architecture and an ancient university — the whole civilisational story.
| Scene illustrated | Part of the Constitution it opens |
|---|---|
| A scene from an ancient gurukula | Part II — Citizenship |
| From the Rāmāyaṇa — Rāma’s conquest of Lanka and recovery of Sītā | Part III — Fundamental Rights |
| From the Mahābhārata — Kṛiṣhṇa propounding the Gītā to Arjuna | Part IV — Directive Principles of State Policy |
| A scene from Orissan sculptures | Part XI — Relations between the Union and the States |
| An image of Naṭarāja | Part XII — Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits |
| From a Mahabalipuram bas-relief — Bhagīratha’s penance and the descent of Gangā | Part XIII — Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the territory of India |
| A scene with Akbar and Mughal architecture | Part XIV — Services under the Union and the States |
| A scene depicting Nālandā, one of India’s ancient universities | Opens a further Part of the Constitution |
Fig. D10 — The three easiest to remember: gurukula → Citizenship, Rāmāyaṇa → Fundamental Rights, Mahābhārata → Directive Principles.
✍️ Part 2 — Three-Mark Questions
SHOW ANSWER
- The Indian freedom movement — its experience, ideas and ideals were a significant influence, and many leaders of the movement sat in the Constituent Assembly.
- India’s civilisational heritage and culture — which played a key role and gave us ideas such as the Fundamental Duties.
- The constitutions of other countries — useful learnings from France, USA, UK, Ireland, Australia and other democracies were considered.
SHOW ANSWER
- Acceptance that people could hold different points of view, and the idea of Nature as sacred.
- The pursuit of learning and knowledge, and respect for women.
- Vasudhaiva kutumbakam — “the world is one family” — and sarve bhavantu sukhinah, an invocation for the well-being of all creatures.
- Older governance systems — janapadas, sanghas, rulers and their councils, Kauṭilya’s saptānga and rājadharma — all stressed the duties and role of the people.
- This emphasis on duty entered the Constitution as the Fundamental Duties.
SHOW ANSWER
- From France — the ideals of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, which France had enshrined from the Revolution of 1789.
- From Ireland — the idea of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
- From the USA — the concept of an independent judiciary.
- The makers studied these in the spirit of ā no bhadrāh kratavo yantu viśhwatah — “let noble thoughts come to me from every side” — always testing their usefulness for our own context.
📝 Part 2 — Fill in the Blanks
- The ideals of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ were adopted from the constitution of .
- The Directive Principles of State Policy were inspired by the Constitution.
- The concept of an independent judiciary was shaped by the Constitution.
- The French Revolution took place in the year .
- The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen focused on equality, and justice for all.
- means “the world is one family”.
- is an invocation for the well-being of all creatures.
- Kauṭilya’s concept of the state referred to in this chapter is called .
- India’s civilisational emphasis on the duties of people entered the Constitution as the .
- The illustration from the Rāmāyaṇa opens the Part of the Constitution dealing with .
SHOW ANSWERS
- France
- Irish
- American
- 1789
- liberty
- Vasudhaiva kutumbakam
- Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
- saptānga
- Fundamental Duties
- Fundamental Rights
🧠 Mind Map — Part 3 at a glance
- Key features
- Roles of the three organs clearly defined
- Three-tier government — central, state, local
- Electoral system so every eligible citizen can vote
- Three core aspects
- Fundamental Rights — promises that must be kept
- Directive Principles — goals to work towards
- Fundamental Duties — what citizens owe the nation
- A living document
- Amendments debated in Parliament
- 1976 Fundamental Duties · 1992 Panchayati Raj · 2004 national flag
- The Preamble
- Sovereign · Socialist · Secular · Democratic · Republic
- Justice · Liberty · Equality · Fraternity
Key Features of the Constitution of India
- There are three organs of government — legislature, executive and judiciary — and the ‘separation of powers’ is essential to their effective working.
- The legislature makes the laws.
- The law is implemented by the executive, which is headed by the prime minister.
- The judiciary ensures that all laws made are in accordance with the Constitution. It also decides whether a law has been broken and what punishment is necessary.
- We have a three-tier system of government — central, state and local (Panchayati raj system).
- Some functions and responsibilities are reserved for the central government, and others are assigned to the state government.
- The Constitution addresses all these points comprehensively.
- It clearly defines the roles, functions, responsibilities and accountability measures for each organ of government.
- The electoral system has been laid down to ensure that every eligible citizen is enabled to vote.
- Three other core aspects of the Constitution are the Fundamental Duties, the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy.
- The Directive Principles of State Policy — DPSP, as they are popularly called — represent the essence of the social and economic vision that the framers of the Constitution had for India.
📋 Fundamental Rights
- Right to Equality — Article 14, equality before law
- Right to Freedom — Article 21, protection of life and personal liberty
- Right against Exploitation
- Article 21-A — Right to education
🎯 Directive Principles of State Policy
- Article 38 — Social, Political and Economic Justice
- Article 41 — Welfare Government
- Article 44 — Uniform Civil Code
- Article 47 — Nutrition, standard of living and public health
- Article 48-A — Environment and Wildlife Protection
- Article 49 — Protection of monuments, places and objects of national importance
🤝 Fundamental Duties
- To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem
- To defend the country and render national service when called upon
- To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture
- To protect and improve the natural environment — forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife — and to have compassion for living creatures
- To strive towards excellence in all spheres, so the nation rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement
- If a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to a child between the ages of six and fourteen
Rights versus Directive Principles — the key difference
| Point | Fundamental Rights | Directive Principles of State Policy |
|---|---|---|
| What they are | Promises that must be kept | Goals the government should try to achieve |
| Can you go to court? | Yes — if someone treats you unfairly because of who you are, you can go to court and the judge can help you | No — if the government does not make efforts to follow them, you cannot go to a judge and complain |
| How strict | Enforceable rules | More like guidelines than strict rules |
| When they apply | Rights that can be demanded immediately | Bigger goals that might take time to achieve as the country progresses |
| Example | Right to equality before the law | Everybody in the country must have a good standard of living |
Fig. D12 — The Constitution makers created this two-level system on purpose. That word “on purpose” is the heart of the answer.
- Speaking during the Constituent Assembly’s debates, she said the women of India were happy to step into their rightful heritage of complete equality with men in all spheres of life and activity.
- She was convinced this was no new concept invented for the Constitution, but an ideal long cherished by India — even though social conditions had for some time tragically debased it in practice.
- The Constitution, she said, affirms that ideal and gives the solemn assurance that the rights of women in law will be wholly honoured in the Indian Republic.
The Constitution is a Living Document
- Our Constitution makers realised that a need for new laws and rules would emerge over time.
- For example, ‘Part IV-A: Fundamental Duties’ was added in 1976.
- However, any changes — called amendments — are rigorously debated in Parliament before they are accepted:
- Some require a debate in the legislative assemblies as well
- Many times, opinions are sought from the general public
- Some changes can also be initiated by popular movements
- The government also creates opportunities for people to give feedback on proposed laws or changes in rules, by inviting public comments on draft amendments.
🇮🇳 Flying the national flag — 2004
- There was a time when people were not allowed to fly the national flag at their homes.
- This changed in 2004, when a citizen felt it was his right to express pride in his country and challenged the rule in court.
- The Supreme Court agreed, saying that flying the flag is part of the Fundamental Right to Freedom of Expression.
- We can now fly the tricolour with pride — keeping in mind that it should never be dishonoured.
🏘️ Panchayati Raj — 1992
- The Panchayati Raj System was not part of the original Constitution.
- It was integrated into it in 1992 with the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act.
- The Indian Constitution is not just a legal document but also a work of art.
- The calligrapher Prem Behari Narain Raizada wrote its text by hand.
- Nandalal Bose and his team illustrated its pages with scenes from Indian history — from Mohenjo-daro to the freedom movement.
Understanding the Preamble: The Guiding Values of the Constitution of India
- The Constitution’s core values are the guiding principles for policies and decision-making, which the government is expected to follow.
- Citizens too are expected to practise them to the best of their ability.
- These guiding values are present across the whole Constitution — but their essence is written in the Preamble.
PREAMBLE OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949 do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Note: the terms ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and ‘Integrity’ were added to the Preamble through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976.Before we move on …
- The Constitution of India is a guiding book or ‘rulebook’ which protects the rights of all citizens. Citizens are also expected to follow the fundamental duties of the Constitution.
- The rich civilizational heritage of India, the freedom struggle and good practices from the constitutions of other countries served as the building blocks of the Indian Constitution.
- Its key features define the social, economic and political structure of the country and its parliamentary form of government.
- It is a living document that can be improved as per the country’s needs.
✍️ Part 3 — Three-Mark Questions
SHOW ANSWER
- Fundamental Rights are promises that must be kept; Directive Principles are goals the government should try to achieve.
- If a Fundamental Right is denied you can go to court and a judge can help you; if the government does not follow a Directive Principle you cannot complain to a judge.
- The DPSP are more like guidelines than strict rules.
- Rights can be demanded immediately; Directive Principles are bigger goals that may take time as the country progresses.
- The Constitution makers created this two-level system on purpose.
SHOW ANSWER
- Its makers realised that the need for new laws and rules would emerge over time, so it can be changed through amendments.
- Amendments are rigorously debated in Parliament, some also in the legislative assemblies; public opinion is often sought, and some changes begin with popular movements.
- Example — 1976: Part IV-A, Fundamental Duties, was added.
- Example — 1992: the Panchayati Raj System was added by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act.
- Example — 2004: the Supreme Court held that flying the national flag at home is part of the Fundamental Right to Freedom of Expression.
SHOW ANSWER
- Sovereign — the people have the supreme right to make decisions on internal as well as external matters, and no external power can dictate the government of India.
- Secular — citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion, there is no official religion, and the government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal respect.
- Republic — the head of the state is an elected person, not a hereditary position.
- Note that ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were added later, by the 42nd Amendment of 1976.
📝 Part 3 — Fill in the Blanks
- ‘Part IV-A: Fundamental Duties’ was added to the Constitution in .
- Changes made to the Constitution are called .
- The Panchayati Raj System was added in 1992 through the Constitutional Amendment Act.
- In the Supreme Court ruled that flying the national flag at home is part of the Right to Freedom of Expression.
- The calligrapher who wrote the Constitution by hand was .
- The pages of the Constitution were illustrated by and his team.
- Article 21-A of the Constitution gives the Right to .
- Article 14 guarantees before law.
- The terms ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’ and ‘Integrity’ were added by the Constitutional Amendment in 1976.
- The essence of the Constitution’s guiding values is written in the .
SHOW ANSWERS
- 1976
- amendments
- 73rd
- 2004
- Prem Behari Narain Raizada
- Nandalal Bose
- education
- equality
- 42nd
- Preamble
