what is the salient features of the indian constitution?

Large written constitution of the world: The constitution of any country in the world is not as detailed as the Constitution of India.  According to Sir Ivor Jennings, the Indian Constitution is the largest and most comprehensive constitution in the world.  But the makers of our Constitution had to create it keeping in mind the conditions of their nation.  At that time, various geographical, political, social and historical situations existed before the country.  The biggest contribution in making our Constitution broad and comprehensive is that in this Constitution, provision has been made not only for the organization and structure of the Central Government but also for the organization and structure of the government of the states.  The Indian Constitution is the supreme law of the nation.  Regarding the vastness of the Constitution, some critics may call it a lawyer's paradise, but every citizen of the nation wants that all kinds of policy related things should be explained in it so that he can feel that democracy exists in the true sense in India.  Is.

2) Establishment of a completely sovereign democratic, secular, socialist republic-

  The main achievement of the Indian Constitution is the establishment of a sovereign democratic republic in India.  It is sovereign because its sovereignty is not vested in any foreign power but in the people of India.  It is completely free from external control.  Now India itself decides its internal and external policies.  He is free to act and behave as per his wish in his internal and external matters.  India is a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth.  Membership of the Commonwealth is voluntary.  This has no adverse effect on the sovereignty of India.

 Ramaswamy described it as "a mere courtesy arrangement which has no constitutional significance whatsoever."

    Democracy has been established in India.  The government here is completely run by the representatives elected by the people.  “It is run by the people, for the people and on behalf of the people.”  Its aim is the welfare of the common people.  It has made it its sacred objective to provide economic and political equality, freedom and justice to all and to create a feeling of fraternity among the people.

3) System of single citizenship-

 It is considered to be a main feature of the federal constitution.  Dual citizenship means citizenship of one union and citizenship of another state.  Both have different rights and duties.  In the United States of America, there is a system of dual citizenship, but in India, single citizenship has been given place.  Every citizen here is called a citizen of India only.  Under the Constitution, equal rights have been provided to all citizens.  The privileges and immunities are also the same.  Its biggest benefit is to awaken the feeling of patriotism, brotherhood and dedication towards the country in all people.

 (4) Adult franchise As we have discussed earlier, a democratic republic has been established in India.  The government here is considered to be of the people, for the people and made by the people.  The main reason for this is that every person above the age of eighteen years has been given the right to vote.  He can use his vote in favor of the person of his choice.  There is no discrimination in voting rights on the basis of religion, caste, gender, lineage etc.  Even money and economics have not been allowed to become an obstacle in the way of voting rights.  This is a symbol of true democracy.  The Indian voter, whether uneducated or poor, is very aware.  The last election is a direct proof of this.  Sometimes BJP government came to power with majority and sometimes Congress.  At some places, there is Aam Aadmi Party government and at other places, there is Telugu Desam government.  Whenever the government started torturing the people, it had to face defeat.  All this is the result of adult franchise.

5) Unitary Constitution- Although we have adopted the federal system of governance;  But it is a surprise that elements of unitary governance system are also present in it.  Such a strangeness is rarely seen in the constitution of any country.  Under normal circumstances the states here have complete autonomy;  But in special circumstances like emergency, this autonomy gets restricted and the entire constitution takes the form of a unitary constitution.  Their main objective has been to ensure that the interests of the nation take precedence over the interests of the states.

  (6) Independence of the judiciary-

 An important feature of the Constitution of India is the independence of the judiciary.  It is free from all forms of interference.  It performs its duty with fearlessness, boldness and impartiality.  It is necessary for it to be independent and impartial:

 Since (1) it is the protector of the Constitution,

 (ii) It protects fundamental rights:

 (iii) It settles disputes between the Center and the States:

 (iv) It provides for the provisions of the Constitution.

  (v) It is a vigilant sentinel of freedom.

  (7) Socialism and secularism -

 The inclusion of the words 'socialism' and secular in the Indian Constitution confirms its democratic nature.  The effort to establish a socialist society in India is not only to fulfill the dreams of Pujya Bapu but also to serve Daridranarayan in the true sense.  Its resolution is to provide 'economic justice' to all individuals.  The spirit of our Constitution is that no person should be deprived of justice and constitutional remedies merely because of economic deprivation.

      Its another achievement is the establishment of a secular state.  No particular religion has been recognized as the state religion in India.  Here every person has the right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely follow, practice and propagate any religion.  He is free to worship and worship, meditate and worship.

The expressions 'socialism' and 'secularism' were not included in the original draft of the Constitution.  Both these expressions were added later by the 42nd Amendment Act of the Constitution.  It is very difficult to define the word 'socialism'.  In the Indian perspective, this word not only indicates 'mixed economy' but also individual activities.

               As far as 'secularism' is concerned, it is reflected in freedom of belief, religion and worship.

 (8) Emergence of parliamentary system of governance -

 Under the federal constitution, two types of governance systems can be established -

  (1) Presidential, and

 (ii) Parliamentary.

 In the presidential system of governance, the President is supreme over the country.  He is the real head of the executive.  All executive powers are vested in the President.  The President is elected directly by the people.  America is a good example of this.

       Whereas in the parliamentary system of governance, the real power of governance lies in the representatives elected by the people.  This assembly of representatives is called the Council of Ministers which is answerable to the Parliament.  Its head is 'Prime Minister'.  The President is considered the nominal head.  Although all executive powers have been vested in the President in the Constitution, he exercises these powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.  The President in India is sometimes compared to the King of England, about whom it is said, "He makes no mistakes."  The main reason for this is that he does not do any work on his own.

9) Fundamental Rights

 The most important achievement of the Indian Constitution is the fundamental rights of the citizens.  The main objective of fundamental rights is all-round development.  Due to suffering of slavery for a long time, the development of Indian mentality remained stunted.  Therefore, it was necessary to give an idea of ​​his slavish mentality.  Then after independence, every Indian had this hope and aspiration.  Accordingly, some important fundamental rights were provided to the citizens in the Constitution;  Such as-

  (i) Right to equality;

 (ii) Right to freedom;

  (iii) Protection of life and personal liberty;

 (iv) Constitutional protection against arrest and detention;

  (v) Right against exploitation;

  (vi) Right to freedom of religion;

  (vii) Rights related to education and culture;

  (vii) Right to constitutional remedies;

 (ix) Right to property;

 (x) Right to freedom of trade, commerce and association, etc.

 (10) Fundamental duties

 Rights and duties both complement each other.  Both are like two wheels of a cart.  One cannot be imagined without the other.  In other words we can say that 'where there is a right, there is a duty'.  One person's right is another person's duty.  It is true that man pays more attention to rights than duties and this is why fundamental rights have been included in our Constitution from the very beginning.  But with time it was realized that this system was incomplete due to lack of duties.  Therefore, by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976, Part 4-A of the Fundamental Duties was added to the Constitution.  In this, ten fundamental duties of the citizens have been mentioned, which include following the Constitution and respecting the national flag and national anthem.  It calls for protecting the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India.

(11) Directive Principles of State Policy-

 The dream of establishing a public welfare state has been cherished in the Constitution of India.  This was also the wish and aspiration of our father.  He wanted that every child in India should get compulsory primary education and it should be free, there should be equitable distribution of means of production, the standard of living of the people should rise, there should be separation of judiciary and executive, in the direction of decentralization of power.  Panchayati Raj should be established in villages, etc.  But it was not possible to do all this at once;  Because at that time independent India had more important problems than these, which needed to be resolved.  Therefore, we thought it appropriate to give instructions to the states in our Constitution that the states should take steps in this direction at the appropriate time.  These were named 'Directive Principles of State Policy'.

    This is necessary not only for the development of the individual but also for the development of the state and the nation.  Glenwyn Austin has called him the 'soul of the state'.  In this context we can say that Part 4 is the soul of our Constitution.

Since they were not enforceable by the courts, these directive principles initially appeared to be inactive.  The states also had a neglectful attitude towards them.  But the 26th and 42nd amendments of the Constitution increased the importance of these directive principles and brought them even higher than the fundamental rights.  Now it has been arranged that even if any law is made to implement the Directive Principles which violates Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution, it cannot be challenged in the court.

 (12) Amazing coordination of flexibility and stiffness

  From the point of view of amendment, the Constitution is either rigid or flexible.  A rigid constitution is one in which amendments can be made only through a special process, which is extremely stringent.  Amendments to this are considered 'a tricky proposition';  Whereas in a flexible constitution the process of amendment is very simple.  Whenever desired, it can be amended through normal procedure.  Both the processes have their own importance.  It is necessary for the Constitution to be rigid so that its supremacy and its public-welfare structure cannot be violated whenever one wants.  On the other hand, it is necessary for it to be flexible so that it can be molded according to time and circumstances.  The Constitution of England is flexible while the Constitution of the United States of America is rigid;  But the Constitution of India is neither rigid nor flexible.  The middle path has been followed in this.  It can be adapted to suit the time and place and it is not possible to make arbitrary amendments easily whenever desired.