The document summarizes the key aspects of the Indian constitution, including that it was created by the constituent assembly between 1946-1949, led by important figures who had public credibility. It established a parliamentary democracy, with power distributed across different institutions like the legislature, executive, and judiciary to prevent any one from becoming too powerful. The constitution also drew upon other countries' practices while seeking to protect civil liberties and establish a just society.

1. By Rishika,
Class 11 (Humanities)
The Constitution:
why and how

2. What is a Constitution?
A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a
state is constituted or governed.
Why do we need a Constitution?
We need a constitution to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal
coordination amongst members of a society which are legally enforceable.
Who can decide which rules are the best to suite for a society?
The constitution specifies the basic allocation of power in a society.
In the Indian Constitution, it is specified that in most instances, Parliament gets to
decide laws and policies, and that Parliament itself be organized in a particular
manner. It decides who gets to decide what the laws will be.

3. Functions of Constitution
● The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that
allow minimal coordination amongst members of a society.
● The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the power to
make decisions in a society . It decides how the government will be
constituted.
● The third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a
government can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in
the sense that government may never trespass them
● The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to fulfil
the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society.

4. What are the features of the Indian Constitution?
The features of the Indian Constitution as it stands today, are as follows:
● Lengthiest Written Constitution
● Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility
● Parliamentary Government
● Independent Judiciary
● A federal system with Unitary Features
● Secular State
● Universal Adult Franchise
● Emergency Provisions

5. Fundamental Identity of the People
The people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution.
Constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one pursues individual aspirations,
goals and freedoms.
The constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do.
It defines the fundamental values that we may not trespass. Hence, the constitution also gives one a
moral identity.
Many basic political and moral values are now shared across different constitutional traditions.

6. Mode of Promulgation: This refers to how a constitution comes into being.
Who crafted the constitution and how much authority did they have?
In many countries, constitutions remain defunct.
The reason why in many countries the constitution remains defunct is that either
the constitution is drafted by the military leaders or by those leaders who were not
popular among the citizens.
The major reason for the stringent constitutions is that the people or the makers
of the constitution lacked the ability to carry people with them.

7. An overview of the Indian Constitution
The constitution was formally created by a Constituent Assembly between, December
1946 and November 1949. It drew upon a long history of the nationalist movement
that had a remarkable ability to take along different sections of Indian society
together.
It carried enormous legitimacy from the fact that it was drawn up by people who
enjoyed: Immense public credibility,
Who had the capacity to negotiate and command the respect of a wide cross-section
of society,
The ones who were able to convince the people that the constitution was not an
instrument for the aggrandizement of their personal power.

8. Provision of the Constitution:
● It gives everyone in society some reason to go along with its provisions
● It gives security towards the oppression of the minorities by the permanent
majorities of the constitution.
● Systematically privileged some members at the expense of others, or that
systematically entrenched the power of small groups in society, would cease
to command allegiance
● It preserves the freedom and equality of all its members
● The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all its
members, the more likely it is to succeed.

9. Making of The Constitution
Constituent Assembly
MN Roy proposed the idea of a constituent assembly for the first time in 1934. The British
accepted the constituent assembly's demand for the first time in August Offer (1940).
In 1946, the Cabinet Mission Plan established the Constituent Assembly. The assembly met for
the first time on December 9, 1946, and was reconvened on August 14, 1947, as the Constituent
Assembly for Divided India.
Members were chosen through an indirect election process by members of the Provisional
Legislative Assemblies, which were established in 1935. On December 11, 1946, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad was elected president of the constituent assembly.

10. Balanced Institution Design
The designing of a constitution to ensure that no
single institution acquires monopoly of power. This
is done by distributing powers across different
institutions. Thus the Indian constitution assigned
different powers to different institutions:
● Legislature
● Executive
● Judiciary
Also, to the statutory bodies like Election
Commission.
This ensures that even if one institution tries to
subvert the Constitution, others will be able to
check it.
A constitution must strike the right balance
between establishing certain values, norms, and
procedures as authoritative while also allowing
for sufficient flexibility in its operations to
respond to changing needs and circumstances.
A constitution that is too rigid will likely
break under the weight of change; on the other
hand, a constitution that is too flexible will
provide no security, predictability, or identity to
a people.

11. What was the Cabinet Mission Plan?
The British Prime Minister, “Clement Atlee” decided to send a mission to India
for the transfer of powers from the British Indian Government to Indian
leaders.
Objectives:
● To obtain an agreement with the Indian leaders as to the framing of a
constitution for India.
● To formulate a constitution-making body (the Constituent Assembly of
India).
● To establish an Executive Council with the support of the major Indian
parties.

12. What was the Cabinet Mission Plan?
According to Cabinet Mission Plan:
Each Province and each Princely State or group of States were allotted seats proportional to their
respective population roughly in the ratio of 1:10,00,000.The seats in each Province were distributed
among the three main communities; Muslims, Sikhs and General, in proportion to their respective
populations.
Members of each community in the Provisional Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives
by the method of proportional representation with the single transferable vote.The method of selection
in the case of representatives of Princely States was to be determined by consultation.
Procedures:
The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees chaired by the popular leader; Jawaharlal Nehru,
Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad & Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Each Committee usually drafted
particular provisions of the Constitution which were then subjected to debate by the entire Assembly.
Also, some provisions were subject to vote.

13. What was task did the ‘Drafting Committee’ performed?
The Drafting Committee was entrusted with the responsibility to prepare the
draft constitution. Drafting Committee was set up on 29 August 1947. The
constituent assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 17 days to frame the
constitution.
Chairman: BR Ambedkar
Members: N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, AK Ayyar, KM Munshi, Mohammad
Sadullah, BL Mittar, DP Khaitan.
An Assembly as diverse as the Constituent Assembly of India could not have
functioned if there was no background consensus on the main principles the
Constitution should enshrine.

14. Borrowed Features of the Constitution

15. Borrowed Features of the Constitution

16. Conclusion
It is a tribute to the wisdom and foresight of the makers of the Constitution that they
presented to the nation a document that enshrined fundamental values and highest
aspiration shared by the people. This is one of the reasons why this most intricately
crafted document has not only survived but benching a living reality.
India's Constitution is a unique document which in m became an exemplar for many
other constitutions, most notable South Africa. The main purpose behind the long
search that went on for almost three years was to strike the pugh balance so that
institutions created by the Constitution would not be haphazard or tentative
arrangements but would be able to accommodate the aspirations of the people of
India for a long time to come.

17. Thank you.
👍🏼