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highlight the salient features of the constitution of India. |
1.Constitution of India is a written document: A written Constitution has to be framed at a given time and can be adopted in the form of a document in the later stage. It took about 2 years 11 months and 18 days to frame the Constitution. On 26th November 1949 the document was adopted and finally it was enforced on 26th January 1950. 2.Rigid yet Flexible form of Constitution: Indian Constitution is unique due to a rare combination of rigidity and flexibility. The Amendment procedures are the ones that signify the form of Constitution. 3.Federal Structure of Government: This means that there are two levels of Governments i.e Central Government and the State Government. Central Government means a single Government that governs the whole country while State Government is confined to a particular state alone. The powers of each of the governments are specified in three lists; the Union list, the State list and the Concurrent list. 4.Parliamentary Democracy is another unique feature: The legislature and the executive are closely linked in a parliamentary form of democracy. The members of the legislature are selected to form a cabinet that in turn is responsible to the executive. In India the President is the Head of the State. Even though there are numerous powers bestowed on the President, practically most of the powers are exercised by the Prime Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The President acts as per the advice of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. 5.The Fundamental rights and duties: The Constitution guarantees 6 Fundamental rights to all the citizens of the country. Likewise, all the citizens are expected to perform 10 obligations in the form of Fundamental duties. 6.Directive principles of the State policy: These principles were included in the Constitution to provide all the citizens social and economic justice. The main objective is to establish a welfare state in India. 7.Single integrated Judicial System: There is a single integrated judicial system in India where Supreme Court is considered to be the Apex Court. The High Courts established in every state come below the Supreme Court and are followed by the lower courts. 8.Independent judiciary: The legislature and the executive cannot influence the judiciary and this is the reason India has an independent and impartial judiciary. The judges of all the courts are appointed based on their respective qualifications and cannot be removed easily. 9.Single Citizenship: The citizens of India enjoy single citizenship. 10.Universal Adult Franchise: Every citizen of India who has attained the age of 18 years is eligible to vote in the elections irrespective of their castes, sex, status, religion and race. “One person one vote” is the policy adopted in Indian democracy. Political equality is maintained in India through Universal Adult Franchise method. 11.Provisions of Emergency: There are a few situations where the Government cannot run in the ordinary fashion and such situations are termed as Emergency situations. There are 3 kinds of emergencies in India ; a) National Emergency (as a result of war, armed rebellion or the external aggression), b) State Emergency (arising out of failure of constitutional machineries in states) and c) Financial Emergency. |