Unit - I

Citizenship

Basic Features Of The Constitution Of India:

Our constitution is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic:
The Modern State is considered to be a state for the welfare of the people. It is therefore,
suggested that it should have a government of a particular form with appropriate powers and
functions. The document containing laws and rules which determine and describe the form of
the government, the relationship between the citizens and the government, is called a
Constitution. As such a constitution is concerned with two main aspects the relation between
the different levels of government and between the government and the citizens.
A constitution is the basic fundamental law of a State. It lays down the objectives of the
State which it has to achieve. It also provides for the constitutional framework that is, various
structures and organs of the governments at different levels. In addition, it describes the rights
and duties of the citizens. It is, therefore, considered to be the basis for the governance of the
country both in terms of goals and objectives as also their structures and functions.
The Constituent Assembly:
The Constitution of India was framed by the Constituent Assembly. The Assembly was
constituted in 1946. The members of the Constituent Assembly were indirectly elected by the
members of the existing Provincial Assemblies. In addition, there were members nominated
by the rulers of the Princely States. With Independence of India, the Constituent Assembly
became a fully sovereign body. The Constituent Assembly, following the partition of the
country in 1947, consisted of 299 members as on 31st December 1947. Of these 229 members
were elected by the provincial assemblies and the rest were nominated by the rulers of the
princely states. Majority of the members in the Constituent Assembly belonged to the
Congress party. All prominent leaders of the freedom movement were members of the
Assembly.
Princely States: ​During the British Rule there were about 560 areas which were not
directly under the control of the British. These were Kingdoms or ‘Riyasats’ under Indian
rulers or Princes. These were called ‘Princely States’. To name a few, Kashmir, Patiala,
Hyderabad, Mysore, Baroda were some of the princely states.
 Objectives of The Constitution: ​The Constitution of independent India was framed in the
background of about 200 years of colonial rule, a mass-based freedom struggle, the national
movement, partition of the country and spread of communal violence. Therefore, the framers of
the Constitution were concerned about the aspirations of the people, integrity and unity of the
country and establishment of a democratic society. Amongst the members there were some who
held different ideological views. There were others who were inclined to socialist principles, still
others holding Gandhian thinking but nothing could act as any kind of impediment in the progress
of the Assembly’s work because all these members were of liberal ideas.
Their main aim was to give India a ‘Constitution’ which will fulfill the cherished ideas and
ideals of the people of this country. Conscious efforts were made to have consensus on different
issues and principles and thereby avoid disagreement. The consensus came in the form of the
‘Objectives Resolution’ moved by Jawahar Lal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly on December
17, 1946 which was almost unanimously adopted on January 22, 1947. In the light of these
‘Objectives’ the Assembly completed its task by November 26, 1949. The constitution was
enforced with effect from January 26, 1950. From that day India became a Republic. Exactly
twenty years before the first independence day was celebrated on Jan. 26, 1930 as decided by the
Lahore session of the Congress on Dec. 31, 1929. Hence, January 26, 1950 was decided as the
day to enforce the constitution.
Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic:
Sovereignty​: ​Sovereignty is one of the foremost elements of any independent State. It means
absolute independence, i.e., a government which is not controlled by any other power : internal or
external. A country ​cannot ​have its own constitution without being sovereign. India is a
sovereign country. It is free from external control. It can frame its policies. India is free to
formulate its own foreign policy.
Socialist ​The word socialist was not there in the Preamble of the Constitution in its original
form. In 1976, the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution incorporated ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’, in
the Preamble. The word ‘Socialism’ had been used in the context of economic planning. It
signifies major role in the economy. It also means commitment to attain ideals like removal of
inequalities, provision of minimum basic necessities to all, equal pay for equal work. When you
read about the Directive Principles of the State Policy, you will see how these ideals have been
incorporated as well as partly, implemented in the Constitution.
 Secularism ​In the context of secularism in India, it is said that ‘India is neither religious, nor
irreligious nor anti-religious.’ Now what does this imply? It implies that in India there will be no
‘State’ religion – the ‘State’ will not support any particular religion out of public fund. This has
two implications, a) every individual is free to believe in, and practice, any religion he/ she
belongs to, and, b) State will not discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of
religion.
Democratic Republic ​As you have noticed while reading the Preamble to the
Constitution, that the Constitution belongs to the people of India. The last line of the
Preamble says ‘…. Hereby Adopt, Enact And Give To Ourselves This Constitution’. In fact
the Democratic principles of the country flow from this memorable last line of the Preamble.
Democracy is generally known as government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Effectively this means that the Government is elected by the people, it is responsible and
accountable to the people. The democratic principles are highlighted with the provisions of
universal adult franchise, elections, fundamental rights, and responsible government. These
you will read in subsequent lessons. The Preamble also declares India as a Republic. It means
that the head of the State is the President who is indirectly elected and he is not a hereditary
ruler as in case of the British Monarch. Under chapter of Union Executive you will read in
detail about the election of the President of India. \
Justice, Liberty and Equality: ​The struggle for freedom was not only against the British
rule but their struggle should also usher in an era of restoring the dignity of men and women,
removal of poverty and end to all types of exploitation. Such strong motivations and
cherished ideals had prompted the framers to lay emphasis on the provisions of Justice,
Liberty and Equality to all the citizens of India. ​Justice J​ ustice promises to give people what
they are entitled to in terms of basic rights to food, clothing, housing, participation in the
decision-making and living with dignity as human beings. The Preamble covers all these
dimensions of justice – social, economic and political. Besides, the granting of political
justice in the form of universal adult franchise or the representative form of democracy. You
​ he Preamble also mentions about
will read socio-economic justice in next lessons. ​Liberty T
liberty of thought and expression. These freedoms have been guaranteed in the Constitution
through the Fundamental Rights. Though freedom from want has not been guaranteed in the
Fundamental Rights, certain directives to the State have been mentioned in the Directive
Principles.
 ​ quality is considered to be the essence of modern democratic ideology. The
Equality E
Constitution makers placed the ideals of equality in a place of pride in the Preamble. All kinds
of inequality based on the concept of rulers and the ruled or on the basis of caste and gender,
were to be eliminated. All citizens of India should be treated equally and extended equal
protection of law without any discrimination based on caste, creed, birth, religion, sex etc.
Similarly equality of opportunities implies that regardless of the socio-economic situations
into which one is born, he/she will have the same chance as everybody else to develop his/ her
talents and choose means of livelihood.
Salient Features of The Constitution
​ he Indian Constitution is mainly a written constitution. A written
A Written Constitution T
constitution is framed at a given time and comes into force or is adopted on a fixed date as a
document. As you have already read that our constitution was framed over a period of 2 years, 11
months and 18 days, it was adopted on 26th November, 1949 and enforced on January 26, 1950.
Certain conventions have gradually evolved over a period of time which have proved useful in the
working of the constitution. The British Constitution is an example of unwritten constitution. It is
to be noted though, that a written constitution is ‘mainly’ an enacted document, there could be
bodies or institutions which may not be included in the constitution but form an important part of
governance. In Indian context one can mention the Planning Commission. It is very important
body for country’s planning and development. But, the planning commission was set up in March
1950, not by an Act of Parliament, nor as a Part of the Constitution of India. It was set up by a
cabinet resolution. The Indian constitution is the lengthiest in the world. The original constitution
had 395 Articles and 8 Schedules, while, the constitution of USA has only 7 Articles.
Federal Polity
India has adopted a federal structure. In a federation there are two distinct levels of
governments. There is one government for the whole country which is called the Union or Central
Government. Also there is government for each Unit/State. The Constitution of India does not use
the term ‘federal state’. It says that India is a ‘Union of States’. There is a distribution of powers
between the Union/Central Government and the State Governments. Since India is a federation,
such distribution of functions becomes necessary. There are three lists of powers such as Union
List, State List and the Concurrent List. These lists have been explained in Lesson 8 in detail. On
the basic of this distribution, India may be called a federal system.
Parliamentary Democracy
 India has a parliamentary form of democracy. This has been adopted from the British system.
In a parliamentary democracy there is a close relationship between the legislature and the
executive. The Cabinet is selected from among the members of legislature. The cabinet is
responsible to the latter. In fact the Cabinet holds office so long as it enjoys the confidence of the
legislature. In this form of democracy, the Head of the State is nominal. In India, the President is
the Head of the State. Constitutionally the President enjoys numerous powers but in practice the
Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister, which really exercises these powers. The
President acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES:

Every human being is entitled to enjoy certain rights which ensure good living. In a
democracy all citizens enjoy equal rights. The Constitution of India guarantees those rights in the
form of Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights are one of the important features of the Indian
Constitution.
The Constitution provides for six Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights are justifiable and
are protected by the judiciary. In case of violation of any of these rights one can move to the
court of law for their protection. Fundamental Duties were added to our Constitution by the 42nd
Amendment. It lays down a list of ten Fundamental Duties for all citizens of India. While the
rights are given as guarantees to the people, the duties are obligations which every citizen is
expected to perform.

As we have seen, rights are claims that are essential for the existence and development of
individuals. In that sense there will a long list of rights. Whereas all these are recognized by the
society, some of the most important rights are recognized by the State and enshrined in the
Constitution. Such rights are called fundamental rights. These rights are fundamental because of
two reasons. First, these are mentioned in the Constitution which guarantees them and the
second, these are justiciable, i.e. enforceable through courts. Being justiciable means that in case
of their violation, the individual can approach courts for their protection. If a government enacts a
law that restricts any of these rights, it will be declared invalid by courts. Such rights are
provided in Part III of the Indian Constitution.
 The Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to Indian citizens as follows: (i) right
to equality, (ii) right to freedom, (iii) right against exploitation, (iv) right to freedom of religion,
(v) cultural and educational rights, and (vi) right to constitutional remedies. While these
fundamental rights are universal, the Constitution provides for some exceptions and restrictions.

c) HUMAN RIGHTS​:
Introduction:
The lndian concept perceives the individual, the society and the universe as an organic
whole,. Everyone is a child of God and all fellow beings are related to one another and belong to
a universal family. In this context, Mahatma Gandhi remarks, "I do not want to think in terms of
the whole world. My patriotism includes the good of mankind in general.
Therefore my service to lndia includes the services of humanity." Since the days of the lndus
Valley Civilization, lndian culture has been the product of a synthesis of diverse cultures and
religions that came into contact with the enormous lndian sub continent over a very long stretch
of time. As Jawaharlal Nehru notes, there is "an unbroken continuity between the most modern
and the most ancient phases of Hindu thought extending over three thousand years."' The rights
of man have been the concern of all civilizations from time immemorial. "The concept of the
rights of man and other fundamental rights was not unknown to the people of earlier periods."'
The Babylonian Laws and the Assyrian laws in the Middle East, the "Dharma" of the Vedic
period in lndia and the jurisprudence of Lao-Tze and Confucius in China, have championed
human rights throughout the history of human civilization.
Human Rights and The lndian Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of lndia which came into force on 26th January 1950 is one
of the most elaborate fundamental laws ever adopted. The Preamble to the Constitution declares
lndia to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic. The term 'democratic'
denotes that the Government gets its authority from the will of the people. It gives a feeling that
they all are equal "irrespective of the race, religion, language, sex and culture." The Preamble to
the Constitution ledges justice, social, economic and political, liberty of thought, expression,
belief, faith and worship, equality of status and of opportunity and fraternity assuring the dignity
of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation to ail its citizens.
Fundamental Rights and Human Rights
The judicially enforceable fundamental rights which encompass all seminal civil and
political rights and some of the rights of minorities are enshrined in part Ill of the Constitution.
These include the right to equality, the right to freedom, the right against exploitation, the right to
freedom of religion, cultural educational rights and the right to Constitutional remedies.

d) Consumer Rights Awareness (CRA)

Consumers play a vital role in the development of a nation. ​Mahatma Gandhi s​ aid, "A consumer is
the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are on him. He is not an
interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. We are not doing a favour to a consumer by giving
him an opportunity. He is doing us a favour by giving us opportunity to serve him.” But of late
unfortunately cheating by way of overcharging, black marketing, misleading advertisements, etc has
become the common practice of greedy sellers and manufacturers to make unreasonable profits and
without heed to confer consumer rights and interests.
Modern business is an integral part of current day society. Each company has as a socio-economic
impact on the people and has to deliver the goods and services and the standard of living as per the
aspirations of the people. It has a great social responsibility towards the well being of society.
Therefore consumer is an important component of society and business has an obligation to him. But,
when the goods are short in supply the producers charge high prices and consumers have no choice
other than to purchase what is available. Therefore, consumer is to be protected from unsafe products,
poor quality of goods and services, high prices, unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.
Therefore, it is necessary for CRA, awareness to prevail amongst the consumer to protect them from
unscrupulous trade practices and to give them the idea of the utility of money spent by them.
Consumer occupies a supreme position in a free economy. But, he never received the attention he
deserves. In a country like India, he is not the sovereign but a slave. The welfare of the consumer lies
in the fulfillment of his normal and legitimate expectation with regards to the goods and service.

Nature of Consumer Rights

Right to Safety: ​The right to be protected against goods which are hazardous to life and
property. This consumer right is defined as the ‘right to be protected against marketing of goods
and services which are hazardous to life and property. Specifically significant in areas such as
healthcare, food processing and pharmaceuticals, this right spans across any domain that could
have a serious impact on the consumers’ health or well being such as Automobiles, Travel,
Domestic Appliances, Housing etc. Violation of this right is almost always the cause of medical
malpractice law suits in India. Every year, it is estimated that thousands, if not, millions of Indian
citizens are killed or severely hurt by unscrupulous practices by hospitals, doctors, pharmacies
and the automobile industry.
2. Right to Information: ​The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, purity, price
and standards of goods. This consumer right is defined as the ‘the right to be informed about the
quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so
as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the ​Consumer Protection Act, ​1986.
In the Indian market place, consumers get consumer information through two popular, yet
unreliable means, namely advertising and word of mouth. Due to this, the consumers in India
seldom have accurate and complete information to assess the true value, suitability, safety or
reliability of any product. Mostly we find out hidden costs, lack of suitability, safety hazards and
quality problems only after we have purchased the product.
3. Right to Choose: ​The right to be assured access to a variety of products at competitive
prices, without any pressure to impose a sale, i.e., freedom of choice. ​Consumer Protection Act,​
1986 defines this right as ‘the right to be assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety
of goods and services at competitive prices’. Competition, invariably, is the best regulator of a
market place. Existence of oligopolies, cartels and monopolies are counterproductive to
consumerism. How often have you noticed a conglomerate of companies that lobby the
government to compromise consumer rights.
4. Right to be Heard: ​The right to be heard and assured that consumer interests will receive
due consideration at appropriate forums. According to the ​Consumer Protection Act,​ 1986, the
right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interests will receive due consideration at
appropriate forums’ is referred to as the right to be heard. This right is supposed to empower
Indian consumers to fearlessly voice their complaints and concerns against products and
companies to ensure their issues are handled efficiently and expeditiously. However, to date the
Government of India has not created a single outlet for the consumers to be heard or their
opinions to be voiced.
5. Right to Seek Redressal: ​The right to get relief against unfair trade practice or
exploitation. The right ‘to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade
practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers’ is defined as the right to redressal in the
Consumer Protection Act ​1986. The Indian Government has been slightly more successful with
respect to this right. Consumer courts such as District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums at
the district level, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions and National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commissions have been established through the ​Consumer Protection Act.​
6. Right to Education: ​The right to be educated about rights of a consumer. The right of each
Indian citizen to be educated on matters related to consumer protection and about his/her rights is
the last right given by the ​Consumer Protection Act,​ 1986. This right simply ensures that the
consumers in India have access to informational programs and materials that would enable them
to make better purchasing decisions. Consumer education may mean both formal education
through school and college curriculums and also consumer awareness campaigns run by both
governmental and non governmental agencies (NGO).

e) RTI

An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure
access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency
and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central
Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.
The constitution of India has established democratic republic; and democracy requires an
informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to
contain corruption and to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the and
whereas revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests
including efficient operations of the governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and
the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; and whereas democratic ideal; it is
necessary to harmonise these conflicting interests while preserving the paramountcy of the now.
therefore, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to
have it.