Features of Indian Constitution

The constitution of  India was framed by the Constituent assembly set up under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. The Constituent Assembly set up 13 committees for framing the constitution. On the basis of the reports of these committees, a draft of the constitution was prepared by seven member committee under the chairmanship of Dr B.R Ambedkar.

Salient features of Indian Constitution;

1)The bulkiest constitution of the world- consists  of 444 articles divided into 25 parts and 12 schedules.

2) Rigid and flexible -while some provisions of the constitution can be amended by the parliament by a simple majority,others require a two-third majority of the members of the parliament as well as majority in the state legislature.

3) Parliamentary system of Government – at both the centre and states. In the system, prime minister and his council of  ministers are responsible for all their actions to the government.

4) Bicameral legislature – at centre consisting of Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha.

5)Federal system with unitary base- the Indian federal structure acquires a military character during an emergency, where the normal distribution of powers between the center and states undergoes vital changes.

6) Fundamental rights and duties- Indian Constitution contains an elaborate list of fundamental rights and duties. Part 3 of the constitution establishes fundamental rights (article 12-35). Fundamental duties were not included in the original Constitution,these duties were added to the constitution by 42nd Amendment in 1976 and 86th Amendment in 2002.

7) Directive Principles of state policy- these principles seek to provide a social and economic basis for democracy and establishment of the welfare state.

8) Secular state -means that there is no state religion and state is completely detached from religious dogmas.

9) Independent Judiciary – the constitutions provides an independent judiciary which ensures that government is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

10) Universal Adult Franchise – right to vote all citizens above 18 years of age without discrimination.

11) Emergency powers- constitution vest extra ordinary powers in the President during emergencies arising out of armes rebellion or external aggression, emergency due to breakdown of constitutional machinery in state and financial emergency where credit of the country is threatened.

12) Single Citizenship – whoever obtains the Citizenship rights of another nation instantly loses their Indian citizenship.