Constitutional Design

NCERT Exercise Solution

Question 1: Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter.

1. Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.

   Answer:This is a true statement

2. Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.

   Answer:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India had different opinions on various provisions of the constitution.

3. A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.

   Answer:This cannot be said with surety; in the context of information given in this chapter.

4. Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.

   Answer:Constitution can be amended to keep up with the changes in aspirations of the society.

Question 2: Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa?

1. Between South Africa and its neighbours
2. Between men and women
3. Between the white majority and the black minority
4. Between the coloured minority and the black majority

   Answer:(d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority

Question 3: Which of these is a provision that a democratic constitution does not have?

1. Powers of the head of the state
2. Name of the head of the state
3. Powers of the legislature
4. Name of the country

   Answer:(b) Name of the head of the state

Question 4: Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

Answer: a ⇨ 4, b ⇨ 3, c ⇨ 1, d ⇨ 2

Question 5: Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:

1. Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?

   Answer:The task of building a nation is a gargantuan task which cannot be fulfilled in one’s lifetime. Hence Nehru had used the expression, “not wholly or in full measure, but substantially”.

2. What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?

   Answer:He wanted them to take the pledge of building a nation in which there would not be a single person with tears in his eyes. He wanted them to understand the huge responsibility which destiny had thrust upon them.

3. “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?

   Answer:He was referring to Mahatma Gandhi.

Question 6: Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning. Rewrite them by matching them correctly.

Answer: a ⇨ 2, b ⇨ 3, c ⇨ 4, d ⇨ 1

Question 7: A friend from Nepal has written you a letter describing the political exercises situation there. Many political parties are opposing the rule of the king. Some of them say that the existing constitution given by the monarch can be amended to allow more powers to elected representatives. Others are demanding a new Constituent Assembly to write a republican constitution. Reply to your friend giving your opinions on the subject.

Answer: Both the options are plausible. If the existing constitution is proper then it can be amended to include more powers to elected representatives. If the existing constitution is full of loopholes, then a new constitution should be drafted. For this, a Constituent Assembly should be formed by including the elected representatives and they should collectively decide about a particular option.

Question 8: Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?

1. Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.

   Answer:The importance of this fact cannot be ignored. We should acknowledge that we learnt many good things from the British rulers and democracy was one of them.

2. Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.

   Answer:Freedom struggle was important in spreading the idea of nationalism in India and inculcating the practice of making decisions by consensus.

3. We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.

   Answer:We were indeed lucky that we did not have leaders who were autocratic. India’s freedom struggle is the only example of a bloodless freedom struggle in the contemporary history. This could be possible because our nationalist leaders had the maturity to listen to others’ views.

4. Question 9:Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection – of father, husband and son – all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?
5. Answer:The constitution treats every citizen equally irrespective of gender distinction. Hence this paragraph does not reflect the underlying value in our constitution.

Question 10: Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.

1. The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.
2. Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed.
3. Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.
4. A constitution is about institutions, not about values.

   Answer:(d) A constitution is about institutions through which different values are being inculcated.

Constitutional Design

Making of the Indian Constitution

The struggle for freedom had helped in creating a consensus about the shape a democratic India would take after independence. There were differences of opinions among various leaders of the freedom struggle, but they were unanimous in making India into a democratic country.

Motilal Nehru and eight other leaders drafted a constitution as far back as in 1928. In 1931 at Lahore session of Congress, a resolution was passed about the overall objective of the constitution. Both these attempts had certain things in common; like inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality and protection of minority rights.

The leaders of the Congress had worked closely with the British institutions which helped them in understanding the role of various institutions in governing a country. Elections to the Provincial Assemblies were held in 1931 in which the political parties of India got an opportunity to participate in popular elections. Although it was not a fully democratic process, yet the nationalist leaders got a chance to learn the art of running a government. They learnt to set up institutions and manage them.

The nationalist leaders also learnt to take the positives from the constitutions of different countries to incorporate them in the Indian constitution by modifying them as per the local need. So, the Indian constitution has influences from democracy in France, parliamentary system in Britain, Fundamental rights in the US and socialism in Russia.

The Constituent Assembly

• Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Its first meeting was held in December 1946. After the partition, the Constituent Assembly was also divided into India and Pakistan’s constituent assemblies. There were 299 members in the Indian Constituent Assembly. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950.
• The Constituent Assembly was not elected through universal adult franchise but its members came from all parts of India. They represented all the social groups of India. It can be said that the Constituent Assembly truly represented the society and its aspiration at that time.
• The Constituent Assembly held its deliberations in a transparent manner so that different opinions could be heard before arriving at a solution.
• Pan-India representation in the Constituent Assembly is the prime reason that our Constitution has withstood the tests of time.

Philosophy of the Constitution

To understand the philosophy of the Indian Constitution, you need to understand the preamble of the constitution. The keywords in the Preamble of the Constitution of India are discussed as follows:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA: This statement means that the constitution was not handed down to us by any king or by any outside power, rather it was drawn and enacted by the people of India through their representatives.

SOVEREIGN: The sovereignty means that India is a free country and no external power can dictate the government of India. It is important to note that the British had proposed a dominion status for India which meant it would have been a country under the British monarchy. The Constituent Assembly rejected that proposal and preferred for full freedom.

SOCIALIST: The socialism which is being followed in India is somewhat different than what was being followed in various communist countries at that time. The Indian socialism was about generation of wealth by the society and sharing of wealth equally by the society. It was decided that the government would regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socioeconomic inequality.

SECULAR: There is no official religion in India and no religion gets special status from the government of India. Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. All religions are treated with equal respect by the government.

DEMOCRATIC: India would adopt a form of government in which people would elect their rulers and hold them accountable. It was also decided that the people would enjoy equal political rights.

REPUBLIC: This term means that the head of the state, i.e. the President of India is an elected person and it is not a hereditary position.

JUSTICE: The land of the law would not discriminate between citizens on the basis of caste, religion and gender. The government would work for the welfare of poor and oppressed so that social inequalities could be reduced.

LIBERTY: Citizens are given the liberty to express their opinions in a way which is found suitable by them. There are no unreasonable restrictions on the liberty of citizens.

EQUALITY: All citizens are equal before the law; irrespective of differences in socio-economic conditions. Every citizen would be provided equal opportunities to improve his/her socioeconomic conditions.

FRATERNITY: Each citizen should respect the spirit of brotherhood and no one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

Institutional Design

A constitution is not just a statement of values and philosophy. It is about incorporating these values into institutional arrangements. The constitution lays down the procedures for formation of a government. It defines the distribution of power among various organs of the government. It also defines certain limitations to the power of a constitutional body. It describes certain rights which are given to citizens and also describes certain restrictions on those rights.