General Studies 2
Schedules of Indian Constitution
Schedule Description Key Highlights Schedule 1 Territories of India Lists states and union territories, along with their territorial jurisdictions. Schedule 2 Salaries Contains provisions for salaries, allowances, and emoluments of constitutional officeholders. Schedule 3 Forms of Oaths and Affirmations Includes … Continue reading
Parts of the Indian Constitution
Parts Subject Matter Articles I The Union and its territory 1 to 4 II Citizenship 5 to 11 III Fundamental Rights 12 to 35 IV Directive Principles of State Policy 36 to 51 IV-A Fundamental Duties 51-A V The Union … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Three-Tier Government and Cooperative Societies
Three-Tier Government Initially, India had only the Union and State governments, but by the 73rd and 74th amendments, the third tier of governance was adopted, which made the grassroots penetration of governance. Cooperative Societies Part IX-B of the constitution contains … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Independent Bodies and Emergency Provisions
Independent Bodies The constitution provides constitutional backing to independent bodies like Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, Union Public Service Commission, State Public Service Commission. The Constitution ensures the independence of these bodies through various provisions like security of … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Universal Adult Franchise and Single Citizenship
Universal Adult Franchise It acts as the basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. Every citizen who is not less than 18 years of age has a right to vote without any discrimination of caste, … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: A Secular State
India adopted the concept of positive secularism by giving equal respect to all religions. The following provisions of the Constitution reveal the secular character of the Indian State The term ‘secular’ was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Fundamental Duties (FD)
The feature of fundamental duties was added during the operation of internal emergency (1975–77) by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. It is inspired by the Soviet Constitution. Article 51 A … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called the Directive Principles of State Policy the ‘novel feature’ of the Indian Constitution. They are mentioned in Part IV of the Indian Constitution. They can be classified into three broad categories–socialist, Gandhian, and liberal intellectual. The … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Fundamental Rights
Part III of the Indian Constitution deals with fundamental rights given to Indian citizens. The Fundamental Rights are meant for promoting the idea of political democracy. They operate as limitations on the tyranny of the executive and arbitrary laws of … Continue reading
Salient Features of the Constitution: Synthesis of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy
The doctrine of sovereignty of Parliament is associated with the British Parliament, while the principle of judicial supremacy with that of the American Supreme Court. The scope of judicial review power of the Supreme Court in India is narrower than … Continue reading