1

Nationalist Movements in India

The Nationalist Movements in India were organized mass movements
emphasizing and raising questions concerning the interests of the people of
India. In most of these movements, people were themselves encouraged to take
action. Due to several factors, these movements failed to win Independence for
India. However, they did promote a sense of nationalism among the people of
the country. The failure of these movements affected many people as they
withdrew from Government offices, schools, factories and services. Though they
did manage to get a few concessions such as those won by the Salt March in
1930, they did not help India much from the point of view of their objective.
vjv, Nizamiyat, the local nawabs of Oudh and Bengal and other smaller powers.
Each was a strong regional power influenced by its religious and ethnic identity.
However, the East India Company ultimately emerged as the predominant
power. One of the results of the social, economic and political changes instituted
in the country throughout the greater part of 18th century was the growth of the
Indian middle class. Although from different backgrounds and different parts of
India, this middle class and its varied political leaderships contributed to a
growing "Indian" identity".[1] The realisation and refinement of this concept of
national identity fed a rising tide of nationalism in India in the last decades of
the 19th century.[2][3][4]
The Swadeshi movement encouraged the Indian people to stop using British
products and start using their own handmade products. The original Swadeshi
movement emanated from the partition of Bengal in 1905 and continued up to
1908. The Swadeshi movement which was a part of the Indian freedom struggle
was a successful economic strategy to remove the British empire and improve
economic conditions in India.The Swadeshi movement soon stimulated local
enterprise in many areas. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra
Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Sri Aurobindo,Surendarnath
Banerji, Rabindranath Tagore were some of the prominent leaders of this

movement. The trio also known as LAL BAL PAL.The Swadeshi movement was
the most successful.The name of Lokmanya began spreading around and people
started following him in all parts of the country.
Indian text industry also played an important role in the freedom struggle of
India. The merchandise of the textile industry pioneered the Industrial revolution
in India and soon England was producing cotton cloth in such great quantities
that the domestic market was saturated and foreign markets were required to
sell the production. On the other hand, India was rich in cotton produce and was
in a position to supply British mills with the raw material, they required. This was
the time when India was under British rule and the East India Company had
already established its roots in India. Raw materials went to England at very low
rates and cotton cloth of refined quality was brought back to India and sold here
at very high prices. This was draining India's economy and the textile industry of
India suffered greatly. This led to a great resentment among cotton cultivators
and traders.
To add fuel to the fire Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal in 1905,
and there was a massive opposition from the people of Bengal. Initially the
partition plan was opposed through press campaign. The total follower of such
techniques led to the boycott of British goods and the people of India pledged to
use only swadeshi or Indian goods and to wear only Indian cloth. Imported
garments were viewed with hate. At many places, public burnings of foreign
cloth were organized. Shops selling foreign cloths were closed. The cotton textile
industry is rightly described as swadeshi industry. The period witnessed the
growth of swadeshi textile mills. Swadeshi factories came into existence
everywhere.
According to Surendranath Banerji, swadeshi movement changed the entire
texture of our social and domestic life. The songs composed by Rabindranath
Tagore, Rajinikant Singh and Syed Abu Mohd became the moving spirit for the
nationalists. The movement soon spread to the rest of the country and the
partition of Bengal had to be firmly inhaled on the first of April, 1912.

The Non Co-operation Movement

This movement lasted from September 1920 to February 1922.The Non
Cooperation Movement in India was the first of the three major movements
carried out by Gandhi. The movement was started with the thought in mind that
the British rule had lasted in India only because of the cooperation by Indians. If
Indians refused to cooperate then India would gain Independence. The
Movement soon caught national attention and millions joined the movement.
People left their offices, jobs, factories or any other business which cooperated
the British. People forced their children out of the government schools and
colleges. The failure of these movements made many people poor, uneducated
and illiterate due to withdrawal from government offices, schools, factories and
services. The name of Mahatma Gandhi began spreading around. People started
following him in all parts of the country. However, the movement could not
continue as anticipated by Mahatma because of the incident of Chauri Chaurah.
He had hoped for a nationwide peaceful and non-violent movement.
The Chauri Chaurah incident
In 1922, there was a mob violence at Chauri Chaurah, Uttar Pradesh in which
the people burned a police station and killed one main police officer along with
22 policemen. It happened because when a group of people were demonstrating
peacefully the police had fired upon them which stirred the people to attack.
Because of this violent incident Mahatma Gandhi had to stop the Non
Cooperation Movement.

The Dandi March , Civil disobedient movement & Salt satyagraha

The Salt Satyagraha was started by Mohandas karamchand gandhi on 12
March 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to 5 April till Dandi, Gujarat where he
manufactured

Salt,

broke

the

Salt

Law

and

started

nationwide Civil

disobedience. The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, began on 12
March 1930 and was an important part of the Indian independence movement. It

was a direct action campaign of tax resistance and non violent protest against
the British salt monopoly in colonial India, and triggered the wider Civil
Disobedience Movement. This was the most significant organised challenge to
British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 192022, and directly
followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence by the Indian National
Congress on 26 January 1930.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (commonly called Mahatma Gandhi) led the
march from his base, Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, to the coastal village
of Dandi, located at a small town called Navsari, in the state of Gujarat. As he
continued on his 24-day, 240-mile (390 km) march to Dandi to produce salt
without paying the tax, growing number of Indians joined him along the way;
Initially with 78 volunteers it ended up in thousands. When Gandhi broke the salt
laws at 6:30 am on 5 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience
against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians.[1] The campaign had a
significant effect on changing the world and British attitude towards Indian
independence[2][3] and caused large numbers of Indians to join the fight for
independence for the first time.
After making salt at Dandi, Gandhi continued southward along the coast,
producing salt and addressing meetings on the way. The Congress Party planned
to stage a satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works, 25 miles south of Dandi.
However, Gandhi was arrested on the midnight of 45 May 1930, just days
before the planned action at Dharasana. The Dandi March and the ensuing
Dharasana Satyagraha drew worldwide attention to the Indian independence
movement

through

extensive

newspaper

and

newsreel

coverage.

The

satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with
Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second
Round Table Conference.[4] Over 80,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the
Salt Satyagraha.[5] However, it failed to result in major concessions from the
British.[6]

The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of nonviolent
protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth-force."[7]
Literally, it is formed from the Sanskrit words satya, "truth", and agraha, "force."
In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic
for winning Indian independence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to
organise the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target
of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by British police of
hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news
coverage, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique
for fighting social and political injustice.[8] The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi
and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American activists Martin
Luther King, Jr., James Bevel, and others during the movement for civil rights for
blacks and other minority groups in the 1960s.[9].The famous civil disobedience
movement started with Dandi march in 1930. Through this historic march
Gandhi and his supporters marched to break the salt law along with civil
disobedience movement. This movement was spread throughout the countries,
Madras - rajagopal chari led this movement and khan abdul gaffar khan in
northwest.

The Quit India Movement

The Quit India movement was the final of the three major nationalist
movements in India. It was started in August, 1942 by M.K. Gandhi. Though the
Quit India Movement collapsed within a very short time it will be a mistake to
suppose that the movement was a total failure. Firstly, the movement revealed
the determination of the people to undergo any amount of suffering for the
cause of the country. Secondly, the popular character of the August Rebellion
was revealed through the participation of students, working class and peasants.
In the opinion of Sumit Sarkar, it was the participation of the peasant community
that turned the movement into a mass upsurge. Thirdly, the 1942 Movement
marked the end of Indias struggle for freedom and may be regarded as an apex
of the freedom struggle. Fourthly, the violent mass upsurge of 1942 convinced
the British ruler that their hold was sure to collapse in India sooner or later...

Result of movements
The mass movements failed in their primary objective, achieving independence
for India, as they were often called off before they naturally concluded. However
they sparked nationalist sentiment with the Indian populace, figures like
Mahatama Gandhi united a nation behind his non-violent philosophy and
undoubtedly put crucial pressure on the British occupation. While in the later
years of the Raj economic factors like the reversing trade fortunes between
Britain and India and the cost of fielding the Indian armed forces abroad lumped
on the British tax payer by the 1935 Government of India act, had mounting
implication for British administration, united resistance further drew light on the
growing disparity of the British failures to achieve solidarity over India. Indeed,
Nationalist Movements in India were merely another notch on Britain's ever
scarred grip over its Raj, faced with a magnitude of issues, mass Movements
attributed to but were not solely responsible for India's independence in 1947.

Legacies of British Raj

The British rule in India for about 200 years left behind it some permanent imprint in
the socio-economic, political and cultural life of Indians.

Whatever developments political, administrative economic, social or intellectualIndia witnessed during two centuries of British rule here were not planned by the
colonial rulers out of any philanthropic mission for the welfare of Indians but were
merely outcomes of the imperial rulers larger aim of keeping their hold over India
and for promoting the political, economic or material interests of their own country.

Jawaharlal Nehru has rightly commented that Changes came to India because of
the impact of the west but these came almost in spite of the British in India.

They succeeded in slowing down the pace of those changes. He further said that
the most obvious fact is the sterility of British rule in India and twirling of Indian life
by it.
But the Indian Scholars like Dadabhai Nauroji, R.C. Dutta and many others do not
accept the views of the British Scholars. They evaluated the Legacy of the British
from the nationalistic point of view. They criticized the English as they disturbed the
economic life of India. They destroyed the flourishing handicraft, trade and
commerce. They put obstacles in the way of modernization by exploiting the rich
economic resources of the country. They also spread the feeling of communalism
among the Hindus and Muslims which ultimately led to the partition of India.

Of course both of these opinions are not true and the real truth lies between both of
them. In fact, without the British rule, the modernization would have been
impossible. So the contribution of the British towards the modernization of the
country cannot be ignored. The Indian scholars do not accept this theory only
because of the economic policy of British, their encouragement to the feeling of
communalism and regionalism among the people. So we shall have to pick out
some reliable solid facts to trace out the truth.

No doubt, India achieved her political unification under the British rule. Prior to the
rule of the British, India was divided into a number of states and there was no unity
among the rulers of different states. The rulers always fight against one another in
order to establish their power. They lacked political unity which was the chief reason
of their defeat against the British.

The British conquered all these states one after another and established an empire
in India. The British had introduced a uniform system of administration throughout
the country. Furthermore, introduction of the railways, telegraphs and unified postal

system promoted mutual contact among the people. Undoubtedly, the British
Liberated India from the medieval traditions and laid the foundations of modern
administrative system in the country.

The credit of origin of administrative machinery also goes to the British rule. The
post mutiny period witnessed the growth and development of this administrative
system. The Indian Civil Service, the Indian Police Service, the Indian Audit and
Account Service, the Indian Medical Service, the Indian Education Service, the
Revenue and Judicial Service created an administrative machinery that not only
shouldered the responsibility of the work of Government on a large scale but also
dealt with the famine, plague, means of transport and communication, agricultural
projects etc.

Credit goes to the British Government for the establishment of popular institutions.
The Legislative Council was set up in 1853 and later enlarged in 1861 to induct
some nominated members. With the Morley Minto reforms the provincial legislative
councils began to reflect popular opinion. The principle of direct election for
democracy was introduced in the Montague Chelmsford Act, The Government of
India Act of 1935 made Provinces autonomous. Besides this, the local-self
Government of Lord Ripon provided training for democratic and self governing
institutions in higher level.

The credit of emergence of middle class also goes to the spread of English
education during the British rule. Due to the English education, intellectual
awakening took place among the middle class people. The intellectual middle class
led the national movement and demanded self-rule for India.

The Indian Renaissance and several socio-religious movements of 19th century

were the outcome of the reactions against the British rule and their atrocities. Raja

Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Rama Krishna Paramahansa, Swami
Vivekananda worked a lot for the progress of Hindu religion, culture and society.
Similarly, the Aligarh movement started by Sir Saiyad Ahmand Khan worked for the
good of the Muslims and their progress.

All these movements paved the way for the modernisation of India. Many social
evils were eradicated because of these movements European scholars like Max
Muller William Jones, James prince and Indian scholars like R.G. Bhandarkar,
Haraprasad Shastri, Rajendra Lal Mitra made the Indians conscious about the rich
cultural heritage of India and their efforts injected new life and vigour into the
benumbed limbs of the Indians thus their efforts also led the nation towards
modernisation.

Another notable gift of the British to India is universal peace or freedom from
external aggression and internal disorder. For the first time India witnessed such
type of place which is very valuable for national growth. Thus we conclude that
British rule contributed a lot for the progress of the Indians. The impact of western
civilization was quite clear in Indian life, thought, dress, food and education etc. In
the light of the above discussion, it is clear that British rule is responsible for the
modernisation of the Indian civilization.

However, the people of India suffered a great loss in economic field. The economic
policies adopted by the British transformed Indias economy into a colonial economy
whose nature and structure were determined by the needs of the British economy.

They totally disrupted the basic economic pattern of India, i.e. self sufficient village
economy. The economic policy of the British was subservient to their mother land,
England. They followed the policy of economic exploitation towards India. With the

10

outbreak of Industrial Revolution in England, the economic exploitation reached its

climax.

Different kinds of raw materials were supplied from India to England. Ultimately
India became a supplier of raw materials to England and the buyer of manufactured
goods of England. It adversely affected the trade and commerce of the country.

The condition of the peasants became miserable. The ruin of rural artisan industries
proceeded more rapidly once the railways were built. As D.H. Buchanan writes, The
armour of the isolated self sufficient village was pierced by the steel rail, and its life
blood ebbed away. Agriculture, trade, and industry of India were ruined badly and
India became a poor country as at had never been.

Moreover, the British rule created the feeling of communalism, regionalism among
the people of India, which led to the partition of the country. Partition of India is one
of the worst results of the policy of the English. There is still tug of war between
India and Pakistan for supremacy.

Thus, the British rule in India proved both beneficial and harmful in different
spheres. In-fact whatever harm the British had done to India was only to safeguard
their own interest and whatever advantage the Indians received from the British
rule was the outcome of the efforts made by the leaders of national movement.

Constitution of India
The basic structure doctrine is an Indian judicial principle that theConstitution
of

India has

certain basic

features that

cannot

be

altered

or

destroyed

through amendments by the parliament.[1] Key among these "basic features", are

11

the fundamental rights granted to individuals by the constitution. [1][2][3] The

doctrine thus forms the basis of a limited power of theSupreme Court to review
and strike down constitutional amendments enacted by the Parliament which
conflict with or seek to alter this "basic structure" of the Constitution. The basic
structure doctrine applies only to constitutional amendments. The basic features
of the Constitution have not been explicitly defined by the Judiciary, and the
claim of any particular feature of the Constitution to be a "basic" feature is
determined by the Court in each case that comes before it. The basic structure
doctrine does not apply to ordinaryActs of Parliament, which must itself be in
conformity with the Constitution.
The Supreme Court's initial position on constitutional amendments was that no
part of the Constitution was unamendable and that the Parliament might, by
passing a Constitution Amendment Act in compliance with the requirements of
article 368, amend any provision of the Constitution, including the Fundamental
Rights and article 368. The "basic features" principle was first expounded in
1964, by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in his dissent, in the case of Sajjan Singh v. State
of Rajasthan. He wrote, "It is also a matter for consideration whether making a
change in a basic feature of the Constitution can be regarded merely as an
amendment or would it be, in effect, rewriting a part of the Constitution; and if
the latter, would it be within the purview of Article 368?"
In 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State
of Punjab. It held that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution
are given a "transcendental position" and are beyond the reach of Parliament. It
also declared any amendment that "takes away or abridges" a Fundamental
Right conferred by Part III as unconstitutional. By 1973, the basic structure
doctrine triumphed in Justice Hans Raj Khanna's judgment in the landmark
decision ofKesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala.[4] Previously, the Supreme
Court had held that the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution was
unfettered.[1] However, in this landmark ruling, the Court adjudicated that while
Parliament has "wide" powers, it did not have the power to destroy or
emasculate the basic elements or fundamental features of the constitution.

12

Although Kesavananda was decided by a narrow margin of 7-6, the basic

structure doctrine has since gained widespread acceptance and legitimacy due
to subsequent cases and judgments. Primary among these was the imposition of
a state ofemergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975, and her subsequent attempt to
suppress

her

prosecution

through

the

39th

Amendment.

When

the Kesavananda case was decided, the underlying apprehension of the majority
bench that elected representatives could not be trusted to act responsibly was
perceived as unprecedented. However, the passage of the 39th Amendment by
the Indian National Congress' majority in central and state legislatures, proved
that in fact such apprehension was well-founded. In Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj
Narain and Minerva Mills v. Union of India, Constitutional Benches of the
Supreme Court used the basic structure doctrine to strike down the 39th
Amendment and parts of the 42nd Amendment respectively, and paved the way
for restoration of Indian democracy.[3]
The Supreme Court's position on constitutional amendments laid out in its
judgements is that Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its
"basic structure".

Definition
The "basic features" principle was first expounded in 1964, by Justice J.R.
Mudholkar in his dissent, in the case of Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan. He
wrote, "It is also a matter for consideration whether making a change in a basic
feature of the Constitution can be regarded merely as an amendment or would it
be, in effect, rewriting a part of the Constitution; and if the latter, would it be
within the purview of Article 368 ?"[6]
The basic features of the Constitution have not been explicitly defined by the
Judiciary. At least, 20 features have been described as "basic" or "essential" by
the Courts in numerous cases, and have been incorporated in the basic
structure. InIndira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Naraian and also in the Minerva
Mills case, it was observed that the claim of any particular feature of the

13

Constitution to be a "basic" feature would be determined by the Court in each

case that comes before it. Some of the features of the Constitution termed as
"basic" are listed below:
1. Supremacy of the Constitution
2. Rule of law
3. The principle of Separation of Powers
4. The objectives specified in the Preamble to the Constitution
5. Judicial Review
6. Articles 32 and 226
7. Federalism
8. Secularism
9. The Sovereign, Democratic, Republican structure
10.

Freedom and dignity of the individual

11.

Unity and integrity of the Nation

12.

The principle of equality, not every feature of equality, but the

quintessence of equal justice;

13.

The "essence" of other Fundamental Rights in Part III

14.

The concept of social and economic justice to build a Welfare

State: Part IV in toto

15.

The balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles

16.

The Parliamentary system of government

14

17.

The principle of free and fair elections

18.

Limitations upon the amending power conferred by Article 368

19.

Independence of the Judiciary

20.

Effective access to justice

21.

Powers of the Supreme Court under Articles 32, 136, 141, 142

22.

Legislation seeking to nullify the awards made in exercise of the

judicial power of the State by Arbitration Tribunals constituted under an

Act[7]

Background
The Supreme Court's initial position on constitutional amendments was that no
part of the Constitution was unamendable and that the Parliament might, by
passing a Constitution Amendment Act in compliance with the requirements of
article 368, amend any provision of the Constitution, including the Fundamental
Rights and article 368. In Shankari Prasad Singh Deo v. Union of India (AIR. 1951
SC 458), the Supreme Court unanimously held, "The terms of article 368 are
perfectly general and empower Parliament to amend the Constitution without
any exception whatever. In the context of article 13, law must be taken to
mean rules or regulations made in exercise of ordinary legislative power and not
amendments to the Constitution made in exercise of constituent power, with the
result that article 13 (2) does not affect amendments made under article 368.
In Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan (case citation: 1965 AIR 845, 1965 SCR (1)
933), by a majority of 3-2, the Supreme Court held, "When article 368 confers on
Parliament the right to amend the Constitution, the power in question can be
exercised over all the provisions of the Constitution. It would be unreasonable to
hold that the word "Law" in article 13 (2) takes in Constitution Amendment Acts
passed under article 368."[7] In both cases, the power to amend the rights had
been upheld on the basis of Article 368.

15

Defining the basic structure

The majority had differing opinions on what the "basic structure" of the
Constitution comprised.
Chief Justice Sarv Mittra Sikri, writing for the majority, indicated that the basic
structure consists of the following:

The supremacy of the constitution.

A republican and democratic form of government.

The secular character of the Constitution.

Maintenance of the separation of powers.

The federal character of the Constitution.

Justices Shelat and Grover in their opinion added three features to the Chief
Justice's list:

The mandate to build a welfare state contained in the Directive Principles

of State Policy.

Maintenance of the unity and integrity of India.

The sovereignty of the country.

Justices Hegde and Mukherjea, in their opinion, provided a separate and shorter
list:

The sovereignty of India.

The democratic character of the polity.

16

The unity of the country.

Essential features of individual freedoms.

The mandate to build a welfare state.

Justice Jaganmohan Reddy preferred to look at the preamble, stating that the
basic features of the constitution were laid out by that part of the document,
and thus could be represented by:

A sovereign democratic republic.

The provision of social, economic and political justice.

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.

Equality of status and opportunity.[10]

The Emergency (1975)

The Court reaffirmed and applied the basic structure doctrine in Indira Nehru
Gandhi v. Raj Narain, popularly known as Election case. The constitutionality of
Article 329A, which had been inserted by the 39th Amendment in 1975 was
challenged in this case.[7] Shortly after the imposition of the Emergency, a bench
of thirteen judges was hastily assembled to hear the case. Presided over by
Chief Justice Ajit Nath Ray, the court had to determine the degree to which
amendments were restricted by the basic structure theory. Ray, who was among
the dissenters in the Kesavananda Bharati case, had been promoted to Chief
Justice of India on 26 April 1973, superseding three senior Judges, Shelat, Grover
and Hegde (all in the majority in the same case), which was unprecedented in
Indian legal history. On November 10 and 11, the team of civil libertarian
barristers, led by Nanabhoy Palkhivala, argued against the Union government's
application for reconsideration of the Kesavananda decision. Some of the judges
accepted his argument on the very first day, the others on the next; by the end

17

of the second day, the Chief Justice was reduced to a minority of one. On the
morning of 12 November, Chief Justice Ray tersely pronounced that the bench
was dissolved, and the judges rose.
The 39th Amendment attempted, among other provisions, to legitimize the
election of Indira Gandhi in 1971. Article 329A put the elections of the Prime
Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker outside the purview of the judiciary and
provided for determination of disputes concerning their elections by an authority
to be set up by a Parliamentary law. The Supreme Court struck down clauses (4)
and (5) of the article 329A, which made the existing election law inapplicable to
the Prime Minister's and Speaker's election, and declared the pending
proceedings in respect of such elections null and void. [7]

Development[edit]
Constitutional lawyer A. G. Noorani notes[11] that the doctrine has "now spread
far and wide beyond its frontiers.", but that the eventual attribution to Dietrich
Conrad is absent, who propounded the arguments in a lecture to the law faculty
in theBanaras Hindu University. The argument, Noorani narrates made way to M
K Nambyar who read the excerpt out inGolaknath.
Implied Limitations of the Amending Power
"Perhaps the position of the Supreme Court is influenced by the fact that it has not so
far been confronted with any extreme type of constitutional amendments. It is the duty
of the jurist, though, to anticipate extreme cases of conflict, and sometimes only
extreme tests reveal the true nature of a legal concept. So, if for the purpose of legal
discussion, I may propose some fictive amendment laws to you, could it still be
considered a valid exercise of the amendment power conferred by Article 368 if a twothirds majority changed Article 1 by dividing India into two States of Tamilnad and
Hindustan proper?
"Could a constitutional amendment abolish Article 21, to the effect that forthwith a
person could be deprived of his life or personal liberty without authorisation by law?
Could the ruling party, if it sees its majority shrinking, amend Article 368 to the effect

18

that the amending power rests with the President acting on the advice of the Prime
Minister? Could the amending power be used to abolish the Constitution and
reintroduce, let us say, the rule of a moghul emperor or of the Crown of England? I do
not want, by posing such questions, to provoke easy answers. But I should like to
acquaint you with the discussion which took place on such questions among
constitutional lawyers in Germany in the Weimar period - discussion, seeming academic
at first, but suddenly illustrated by history in a drastic and terrible manner."

The basic structure doctrine was further clarified in Minerva Mills v. Union
of India. The 42nd Amendment had been enacted by the government of Indira
Gandhi in response to the Kesavananda Bharati judgment in an effort to reduce
the power of the judicial review of constitutional amendments by the Supreme
Court. In the Minerva Mills case, Nanabhoy Palkhivalasuccessfully moved the
Supreme Court to declare sections 4 and 55 of the 42nd Amendment as
unconstitutional.[12] Theconstitutionality of sections 4 and 55 of the 42nd
Amendment were challenged in this case, when Charan Singh wascaretaker
Prime Minister. Section 4 of the 42nd Amendment, had amended Article 31C of
the Constitution to accord precedence to the Directive Principles of State Policy
articulated in Part IV of the Constitution over the Fundamental Rights of
individuals articulated in Part III. Section 55 prevented any constitutional
amendment from being "called in question in any Court on any ground". It also
declared that there would be no limitation whatever on the constituent power of
Parliament to amend by way of definition, variation or repeal the provisions of
the Constitution. On 31 July 1980, when Indira Gandhi wasback in power, the
Supreme Court declared sections 4 & 55 of the 42nd amendment as
unconstitutional. It further endorsed and evolved the basic structure doctrine of
the Constitution.[12][13] As had been previously held through the basic structure
doctrine in the Kesavananda case, the Court ruled that Parliament could not by
amending the constitution convert limited power into an unlimited power (as it
had purported to do by the 42nd amendment).

19

In

the

judgement

on

section

55,

Chief

Justice Yeshwant

Vishnu

Chandrachud wrote, "Since the Constitution had conferred a limited amending

power on the Parliament, the Parliament cannot under the exercise of that
limited power enlarge that very power into an absolute power. Indeed, a limited
amending power is one of the basic features of our Constitution and therefore,
the limitations on that power can not be destroyed. In other words, Parliament
can not, under Article 368, expand its amending power so as to acquire for itself
the right to repeal or abrogate the Constitution or to destroy its basic and
essential features. The donee of a limited power cannot be the exercise of that
power convert the limited power into an unlimited one." [14] The ruling was widely
welcomed in India, and Gandhi did not challenge the verdict. [15] In the judgement
on Section 4, Chandrachud wrote:
Three Articles of our Constitution, and only three, stand between the heaven of
freedom into which Tagorewanted his country to awake and the abyss of
unrestrained power. They are Articles 14, 19 and 21. Article 31C has removed
two sides of that golden triangle which affords to the people of this country an
assurance that the promise held forth by the preamble will be performed by
ushering an egalitarian era through the discipline of fundamental rights, that is,
without emasculation of the rights to liberty and equality which alone can help
preserve the dignity of the individual.[14]
This latter view of Article 31C was questioned, but not overturned, in Sanjeev
Coke Manufacturing Co v Bharat Cooking Coal Ltd. (case citation: AIR 1983 SC
239). The concept of basic structure has since been developed by the Supreme
Court in subsequent cases, such as Waman Rao v. Union of India (AIR 1981 SC
271), Bhim Singhji v. Union of India (AIR 1981 SC 234), S.P. Gupta v. President of
India (AIR 1982 SC 149) (known as Transfer of Judges case), S.P. Sampath Kumar
v. Union of India (AIR 1987 SC 386), P. Sambamurthy v. State of Andhra
Pradesh (AIR 1987 SC 663), Kihota Hollohon v. Zachilhu and others (1992 1 SCC
309), L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India and others (AIR 1997 SC 1125), P. V.
Narsimha Rao v. State (CBI/SPE) (AIR 1998 SC 2120), I.R. Coelho v. State of
Tamil Nadu and others (2007 2 SCC 1), and Raja Ram Pal v. The Honble

20

Speaker, Lok Sabha and others (JT 2007 (2) SC 1) (known as Cash for Query
case).[7]
The Supreme Court's position on constitutional amendments laid out in its
judgements is that Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its
"basic structure".[13][16]

Influence
The

influence

extends

to

Commonwealth

Countries

sharing

the judicial

system with India. The basic structure doctrine was adopted by the Supreme
Court of Bangladesh in 1989, by expressly relying on the reasoning in the
Kesavananda case, in its ruling on Anwar Hossain Chowdhary v. Bangladesh (41
DLR 1989 App. Div. 165, 1989 BLD (Spl.) 1).
The High Court of Singapore denied the application of the basic features
doctrine in Singapore in Teo Soh Lung v. Minister for Home Affairs. Justice
Frederick Arthur Chua held that the doctrine was not applicable to the Singapore
Constitution: "Considering the differences in the making of the Indian and our
Constitution, it cannot be said that our Parliament's power to amend our
Constitution is limited in the same way as the Indian Parliament's power to
amend the Indian Constitution."
In Malaysia, the basic features doctrine was also found to be inapplicable by
the Federal Court in Phang Chin Hock v. Public Prosecutor.[19] The Court remarked
that the Indian Constitution was not drafted by "mere mortals", while the same
could not be said for the Malaysian Constitution. [20] The Indian Constitution was
drafted by a constituent assembly representative of the Indian people in
territorial, racial and community terms, [21] while both the Malaysian and
Singapore Constitutions were enacted by ordinary legislatures. Reliance on the
drawing of distinctions between the Indian Constitution on the one hand and the
Malaysian and Singapore Constitutions on the other on the basis of the history of
their framing has been criticized as weak and inadequate.

21

Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of
India. Parliament is composed of the President of India, the houses. It
isbicameral with two houses: Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok
Sabha (House of the People). The President in his role as head of legislature has
full powers to summon and prorogue either house of Parliament or to dissolve
Lok Sabha. The president can exercise these powers only upon the advice of
the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers.
Those elected or nominated (by the President) to either house of Parliament are
referred to as members of parliament (MP). The members of Lok Sabha
are directly elected by the Indian public voting in single member districts and
the members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of the State
Legislative Assemblies by proportional representation. The Parliament has a
sanctioned strength of 543 in Lok Sabha excluding the 2 nominees from the
Anglo-Indians if so the president of India felt desirable and 245 in Rajya Sabha
including the 12 nominees from the expertise of different fields of science,
culture, art and history. The Parliament meets at Sansad Bhavan inNew Delhi.

Composition
The Indian Parliament consists of two houses called the Lok Sabha and theRajya
Sabha with the President of India acting as their head.

President of India
The President of India, the Head of State is a component of Parliament.
Under Article 60 and Article 111, President's responsibility is to scrutinize that
bills/laws passed by the parliament are in accordance with constitutional

22

mandate and stipulated procedure is followed before according his/her approval

to the bills. The President of India is elected by the members of the Parliament
of India and the state legislatures and serves for a term of five years. [9]

Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha (House of the People) or the lower house has members from 545
representing parliamentary constituencies across the country. 543 members are
directly elected by citizens of India on the basis of universal adult franchise and
two are appointed by the President of India. Every citizen ofIndia who is over 18
years of age, irrespective of gender, caste, religion or race, who is otherwise not
disqualified, is eligible to vote for the lok sabha.The Constitution provides that
the maximum strength of the House be 552 members. It has a term of five
years. To be eligible for membership in the Lok Sabha, a person must be a
citizen of India and must be 25 years of age or older, mentally sound, should not
be bankrupt and should not be criminally convicted. The total elective
membership is distributed among the States in such a way that the ratio
between the number of seats allotted to each State and the population of the
State is, so far as practicable, the same for all States. [10]

Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) or the upper house is a permanent body not
subject to dissolution. One third of the members retire every second year, being
replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six
years.[11] Its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of
the states. The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members. It currently
has a sanctioned strength of 245 with 233 members are to be elected from
States and Union Territories(SUT) and 12 are nominated by the President of
India. The number of members from a state depends on the population of the
state. The minimum age for a person to become a member of Rajya Sabha is 30
years.

23

Parliament House
The Sansad Bhavan (Parliament House) is located in New Delhi. It was designed
by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who were responsible for planning and
construction of New Delhi. The construction of buildings took six years and the
opening ceremony was performed on 18 January 1927 by the then GovernorGeneral of India, Irwin. The construction costs for the building were 8.3
million (US$120,000). The parliament is 570 feet (170 m) in diameter and covers
an area of 6 acres (2.4 ha). The Central hall consists of the chambers of Lok
sabha, Rajya Sabha and the Library hall. Surrounding these three chambers is
the four storied circular structure providing accommodations for members and
houses Parliamentary committees, offices and the ministry of Parliamentary
affairs.[12]

Session of parliament
The period during which the House meets to conduct its business is called a
session. The Constitution empowers the president to summon each House at
such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the
two sessions. Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year. In India, the
parliament conducts three sessions each year:[13]

Budget session: February to May

Monsoon session: July to September

Winter session: November to December

Lawmaking procedures
Legislative proposals are brought before either house of the Parliament in the
form of a bill. A bill is the draft of a legislative proposal, which, when passed by
both houses of Parliament and assented to by the President, becomes an Act of
Parliament. Money bills must originate in the Lok Sabha. The council of states

24

can only make recommendations over the bills to the House, within a period of
fourteen days.[14]

Parliamentary committees
Parliamentary committees are formed to deliberate specific matters at length.
The public is directly or indirectly associated and studies are conducted to help
committees arrive at the conclusions. Parliamentary committees are of two
kinds: ad hoccommittees and the standing committees.[15][16][17]
Standing committees are permanent committees constituted from time to time
in pursuance of the provisions of an act of Parliament or rules of procedure and
conduct of business in Parliament. The work of these committees is of a
continuing nature. Adhoc committees are appointed for a specific purpose and
they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a
report.

Incidents
On 13 December 2001, Indian Parliament was attacked by a terrorist
organization.

The

perpetrators

were Lashkar-e-Taiba(Let)

and Jaish-e-

Mohammed (JeM) terrorists. The attack led to the deaths of five terrorists, six
Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a
gardener, which totalled 14 fatalities. It also led to increased tensions between
India and Pakistan, resulting in the 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff. [18]

Directive Principles in India

The Directive Principles of State Policy are the guidelines or principles given
to the central and state governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing

25

laws and policies. These provisions, contained in Part IV of the Constitution of

India, are not enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down therein are
considered fundamental in the governance of the country, making it the duty of
the State[1] to apply these principles in making laws to establish a just society in
the country. The principles have been inspired by the Directive Principles given
in the Constitution of Ireland relate to social justice, economic welfare, foreign
policy, and legal and administrative matters.
Directive Principles are classified under the following categories: economic and
socialistic, political and administrative, justice and legal, environmental,
protection of monuments and peace and security.[2]
The concept of Directive Principles of State Policy was borrowed from the Irish
Constitution. The makers of the Constitution of India were influenced by the Irish
nationalist movement. Hence, the Directive Principles of the Indian constitution
have been greatly influenced by the Directive Principles of State Policy.[3] The
idea of such policies "can be traced to theDeclaration of the Rights of
Man proclaimed by Revolutionary France and the Declaration of Independence
by the American Colonies."[4] The Indian constitution was also influenced by
the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1919, the Rowlatt Acts gave extensive powers to the British government and
police, and allowed indefinite arrest and detention of individuals, warrant-less
searches

and seizures,

restrictions on

public gatherings, and intensive

censorship of media and publications. The public opposition to this act

eventually led to mass campaigns of non-violent civil disobediencethroughout
the

country,

demanding

guaranteed

civil

freedoms,

and

limitations

on

government power. Indians, who were seeking independence and their own
government, were particularly influenced by the independence of Ireland and
the development of the Irish constitution. Also, the directive principles of state
policy in the Irish Constitution were looked upon by the people of India as an
inspiration for the independent India's government to comprehensively tackle

26

complex social and economic challenges across a vast, diverse nation and
population.
In 1928, the Nehru Commission composing of representatives of Indian political
parties proposed constitutional reforms for India that apart from calling
for dominion status for India and elections under universal suffrage, would
guarantee rights deemed fundamental, representation for religious and ethnic
minorities, and limit the powers of the government. In 1931, theIndian National
Congress (the largest Indian political party of the time) adopted resolutions
committing itself to the defense of fundamental civil rights, as well as socioeconomic

rights

such

as

the minimum

wage and

the

abolition

of untouchability andserfdom.[5] Committing themselves to socialism in 1936, the

Congress leaders took examples from the constitution of the erstwhile USSR,
which inspired the fundamental duties of citizens as a means of collective
patriotic responsibility for national interests and challenges.
When India obtained independence on 15 August 1947, the task of developing a
constitution for the nation was undertaken by the Constituent Assembly of India,
composing of elected representatives under the presidency of Dr. Rajendra
Prasad. While members of Congress composed of a large majority, Congress
leaders appointed persons from diverse political backgrounds to responsibilities
of developing the constitution and national laws. [6] Notably, Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkarbecame the chairperson of the drafting committee, while Jawaharlal
Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became chairpersons of committees and
sub-committees responsible for different subjects. A notable development
during that period having significant effect on the Indian constitution took place
on 10 December 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called upon all member states to
adopt these rights in their respective constitutions.
Both the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy were
included in the I Draft Constitution (February 1948), the II Draft Constitution (17

27

October 1948) and the III & final Draft Constitution (26 November 1949),
prepared by theDrafting Committee.

Characteristics
DPSPs aim to create social and economic conditions under which the citizens
can lead a good life. They also aim to establish social and economic democracy
through a welfare state. They act as a check on the government, theorized as a
yardstick in the hands of the people to measure the performance of the
government and vote it out of power if it does not fulfill the promises made
during the elections. The Directive Principles are non-justiciable rights of the
people. Article 31-C, inserted by the 25th Amendment Act of 1971 seeks to
upgrade the Directive Principles.[7] If laws are made to give effect to the Directive
Principles over Fundamental Rights, they shall not be invalid on the grounds that
they take away the Fundamental Rights. In case of a conflict between
Fundamental Rights and DPSP's, if the DPSP aims at promoting larger interest of
the society, the courts shall have to uphold the case in favour of the DPSP. [8] The
Directive Principles, though not justiciable, are fundamental in the governance
of the country. It shall be the duty of the State [1] to apply these principles in
making laws.[9] Besides, all executive agencies should also be guided by these
principles. Even the judiciary has to keep them in mind in deciding cases. [10][11]

Directives
The directive principles ensure that the State [1] shall strive to promote
the welfare

of

the

people by

promoting

social

order

in

which social, economic and political justice is informed in all institutions of life.
Also, the State shall work towards reducingeconomic inequality as well as
inequalities in status and opportunities, not only among individuals, but also
among groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different
vocations.[12] The State shall aim for securing right to an adequate means of
livelihood for all citizens, both men and women as well as equal pay for equal
work for both men and women. The State should work to prevent concentration

28

of wealth and means of production in a few hands, and try to ensure that
ownership and control of the material resources is distributed to best serve the
common good. Child abuse and exploitation of workers should be prevented.
Children should be allowed to develop in a healthy manner and should be
protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
[13]

The State shall provide free legal aid to ensure that equal opportunities for

securing justice is ensured to all, and is not denied by reason of economic or

other

disabilities.[14]The

village panchayats and

State
help

shall

enable

also

them

work

to

for

function

organisation
as

units

of

of
self-

government.[15] The State shall endeavour to provide the right to work, to

education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness
and disablement, within the limits of economic capacity, [16] as well as provide for
just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. [17]
The State should also ensure living wage and proper working conditions for
workers, with full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural activities. Also, the
promotion of cottage industries in rural areas is one of the obligations of the
State.[18] The State shall take steps to promote their participation in management
of industrial undertakings.[19]
Also, the State shall endeavour to secure a uniform civil code for all citizens,
[20]

and provide free and compulsory education to all children till they attain the

age of 14 years.[21] This directive regarding education of children was added by

the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.[22] It should and work for the economic and
educational upliftment of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker
sections of the society.[23]
The directive principles commit the State to raise the level of nutrition and the
standard of living and to improve public health, particularly by prohibiting
intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health except for medicinal purposes.
[24]

It should also organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and

scientific lines by improving breeds and prohibiting slaughter of cows, calves,

other

milch

and

draught

cattle[25][26] It

should

protect

and

improve

the

29

environment and safeguard the forests and wild life of the country. [27] This
directive, regarding protection of forests and wildlife was added by the 42nd
Amendment Act, 1976.
Protection of monuments, places and objects of historic and artistic interest and
national importance against destruction and damage,[29] and separation of
judiciary from executive in public services [30] are also the obligations of the State
as laid down in the directive principles. Finally, the directive principles, in Article
51 ensure that the State shall strive for the promotion and maintenance of
international peace and security, just and honourable relations between nations,
respect for international law and treaty obligations, as well as settlement of
international disputes by arbitration.[31]

Implementation
The State has made and is making many efforts to implement the Directive
Principles. The Programme of Universalisation of Elementary Education and
the five-year plans has been accorded the highest priority in order to provide
free education to all children up to the age of 14 years. The 86th constitutional
amendment of 2002 inserted a new article, Article 21-A, into the Constitution,
that seeks to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14
years.[22] Welfare schemes for the weaker sections are being implemented both
by the Central and State governments. These include programmes such as boys'
and girls' hostels for scheduled castes' or scheduled tribes' students.[32] The year
1990-1991 was declared as the "Year of Social Justice" in the memory of B.R.
Ambedkar.[33] The government provides free textbooks to students belonging to
scheduled castes or scheduled tribes pursuing medicine and engineering
courses. During 2002-2003, a sum of Rs. 47.7 million was released for this
purpose.[34] In order that scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are protected
from atrocities, the Government enacted the The Prevention of Atrocities Act,
which provided severe punishments for such atrocities.

30

Several Land Reform Acts were enacted to provide ownership rights to poor
farmers.[36] Up to September 2001, more than 20,000,000 acres (80,000 km) of
land had been distributed to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the
landless poor. The thrust of banking policy in India has been to improve banking
facilities in the rural areas. [37] The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 empowers
government to fix minimum wages for employees engaged in various
employments.[38] The Consumer Protection Act of 1986 provides for the better
protection of consumers. The act is intended to provide simple, speedy and
inexpensive

redressal

compensation

to

wherever

the

consumers'

appropriate

to

grievances,

the

award

consumer. [citation

relief

needed]

and

The Equal

Remuneration Act of 1976, provides for equal pay for equal work for both men
and women.[39] The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana was launched in 2001 to
attain the objective of gainful employment for the rural poor. The programme
was implemented through the Panchayati Raj institutions.
Panchayati Raj now covers almost all states and Union territories.[41] One-third of
the total number of seats have been reserved for women in Panchayats at every
level; in the case of Bihar, half the seats have been reserved for women. [42]
Legal aid at the expense of the State has been made compulsory in all cases

[43]

pertaining to criminal law, if the accused is too poor to engage a lawyer.

[14]

Judiciary has been separated from the executive in all the states and Union

territories exceptJammu and Kashmir and Nagaland.

India's Foreign Policy has also to some degree been influenced by the DPSPs.
India has in the past condemned all acts ofaggression and has also supported
the United Nations' peace-keeping activities. By 2004, the Indian Army had
participated in 37 UN peace-keeping operations. India played a key role in the
passing of a UN resolution in 2003, which envisaged better cooperation between
the Security Council and the troop-contributing countries. [44] India has also been
in favour of nuclear disarmament.[34]

31

Amendments
Changes in Directive Principles require a Constitutional amendment which has to
be passed by a special majority of both houses of the Parliament. This means
that an amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the members present
and voting. However, the number of members voting should not be less than
the simple majority of the house whether the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

Article 31-C, inserted into the Directive Principles of State Policy by the
25th Amendment Act of 1971 seeks to upgrade the DPSPs. [45] If laws are
made to give effect to the Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights, they
shall not be invalid on the grounds that they take away the Fundamental
Rights.[8]

Article 45, which ensures Provision for free and compulsory education for
children,[21] was added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.

Article 48-A, which ensures Protection and improvement of environment

and safeguarding of forests and wild life,[27] was added by the 42nd
Amendment Act, 1976.

Structure & Functions of state Government

The Union Government, commonly known as the Central Government or
theGovernment of India (GoI), was established by the Constitution of India,
and is the governing authority of the union of 29 states and seven union
territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is located in New Delhi, the
capital of India.
The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in
major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian
Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state

32

governments all each consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The
legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is
based

on

the English

Common andStatutory

Law.

Because

the

seat

of

government is in New Delhi, "New Delhi" is commonly used as a metonym for

the Central Government.

Legislature
Legislative power in India is exercised by the Parliament, a bicameral legislature
consisting of the President of India, theRajya Sabha, and the Lok Sabha. Of the
two houses of Parliament, the former is considered to be the upper house or the
Council of States and consists of members appointed by the President
and elected by the state and territorial legislatures. The latter is considered
the lower house or the House of the people.

The Parliament does not enjoy complete sovereignty, as its laws are subject
to judicial review by the Supreme Court of India. However, it does exercise some
control over the executive branch. The members of thecabinet, including
the prime minister and the Council of Ministers, are either chosen from
parliament or elected there to within six months of assuming office. The cabinet
as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha is a temporary house
and can only be dissolved when the party in power loses the support of the
majority of the house. Whereas theRajya Sabha is a permanent house which can
never be dissolved though the members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a
six-year term.

Executive branch
The Executive Branch of government is the one that has sole authority and
responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division

33

of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea

of theseparation of powers.

President
The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India, as per
Article 53 (1) of the constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers
and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the
aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advice
tendered by the Prime Minister, who leads the Council of Ministers as described
in Article 74 of the Constitution of India.
The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President.
However, in practice, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok
Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own
initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of
Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in
the Lok Sabha.
The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These
include:

Governors of States

The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of
India

The Attorney General

The Comptroller and Auditor General

The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners

The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission

34

The President's Officer

The Cabinet Secretary, whose position is equivalent to the Ministers in

Central Government. His work is to facilitate smooth transaction of business
in Ministries/ Departments of the Government. [2] The Secretariat held by
Cabinet Secretary is termed as Cabinet Secretariat and assists in decisionmaking in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out
differences
through

amongst

the

Ministries/

instrumentality

of

Departments
the

and

standing/

evolving

adhoc

consensus

Committees

of

Secretaries.

Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries

The President, as Head of State also receives the credentials of Ambassadors

from other countries, whilst the Prime Minister, as Head of Government, receives
credentials of High Commissioners from other members of the Commonwealth,
in line with historical tradition.
The President is de jure the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a
convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of
death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the President are
independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In
most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers
on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Vice President
The Vice-President of India is the second-highest ranked government official [citation
needed]

in the executive branch of the Government of India, following the President.

Vice President represents the nation in the absence of the President.The VicePresident also has the legislative function of acting as the Chairman of the Rajya
Sabha.[citation needed]

35

Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of India, as addressed to in the Constitution of India, is the
chief of government, chief adviser to the President of India, head of theCouncil
of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in the parliament. The prime
minister leads the executive branch of the Government of India.
The Prime minister is the senior member of cabinet in the executive branch of
government in a parliamentary system. The prime minister selects and can
dismiss other members of the cabinet; allocates posts to members within the
Government; is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet and is
responsible for bringing a proposal of legislation. The resignation or death of the
prime minister dissolves the cabinet.
The Prime minister is appointed by the president to assist the latter in the
administration of the affairs of the executive.

Cabinet, executive departments and agencies

The Cabinet of India includes the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers.
[6]

Each Minister must be a member of one of the houses of India's Parliament.

The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, and is advised by the Cabinet
Secretary - who also acts as the head of the Indian Administrative Service. Other
Ministers are either as Union Cabinet Ministers, who are heads of the various
Ministries; Ministers of State, who are junior members who report directly to one
of the Cabinet Ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; or
Junior Ministers of State (Independent Charges), which do not report to a Cabinet
Minister. As per article 88 of the constitution, every Minister shall have the right
to speak in, and to take part in the proceedings of, either House, any joint sitting
of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament of which he may be named a
member, but shall not be entitled to a vote in the house where he is not a
member.

36

Civil service
The Civil Services of India is the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of
the Government of India. The executivedecisions are implemented by the Indian
civil servants. Civil servants are employees of the Government of India and
notParliament of India. Not all employees of the Government of India are civil
servants.
In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running
the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are
the ministers. These ministers are accountable to the legislatures which are also
elected by the people on the basis of universal adult suffrage. The ministers are
indirectly responsible to the people themselves. But the handful of ministers are
not expected to deal personally with the various problems of modern
administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil
servants to enforce it.

Cabinet Secretary of India

The Cabinet Secretary of India is the senior most civil servant in the country. The
Cabinet Secretary is the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board of the
Republic

of

India;

generally

the

senior

most

officer

of

the Indian

Administrative Service (IAS) and head of all civil services under the rules of
business of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's
most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India.
The

Cabinet

Secretariat

theGovernment of

India

is

responsible

Transaction

of

for

Business

the

administration

Rules,

1961

and

of
the

Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth

transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by
ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in
Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences
amongst

Ministries/Departments

and

evolving

consensus

through

the

37

instrumentality of the standing/ad hoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this

mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted.
The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President
and ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by
means of a monthly summary report of their activities. Management of major
crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various
Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet
Secretariat.

Judicial branch
India's independent union judicial system began under the British, and its
concepts

and

procedures

resemble

those

of Anglo-Saxon

countries.

The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 25 associate justices,
all appointed by the President on the advice of theChief Justice of India. The jury
trials were abolished in India in the early 1960s, after the famous case KM
Nanavati v State of Maharashtra, for reasons of being vulnerable to media and
public pressure, as well as to being misled.
Unlike its United States counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a
unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of
the Supreme Court of India, High Courts of India at the state level, and District
Courts and Sessions Courts at the district level.

Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India is situated in New Delhi, the capital region of India.
The Supreme Court of India enjoys original,appellate and advisory jurisdiction.
Its

exclusive

original

jurisdiction

extends

to

any

dispute

between

the

Government of India and one or more states, or between the Government of

India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other, or
between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question

38

(whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right

depends on.
In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original
jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcing fundamental rights. It is
empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature
of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce
them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of
any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court,
or from a court subordinate to another State High Court and supreme court.

Public interest litigation (PIL)

Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgement or
orders made by the subordinate courts, of late the Supreme Court has started
entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the
Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ
Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble
The Chief Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for
invoking this .

Elections and voting

India has a federal government, with elected officials at the federal (national),
state and local levels. On a national level, thehead of government, the Prime
Minister, is appointed by the President of India amongst the party which won the
majority

seats

in Loksabha.

All

members

of

the

federal

legislature,

the Parliament, are directly elected. Elections in India take place every five years
by universal adult suffrage through first-past-the-post voting system .

State and local governments

State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the
chief minister heads the state government. Power is divided between union

39

government

and

state

governments.

State

government's

legislature

is bicameral in 7 statesand unicameral in the rest. Lower house is elected with 5

years term, while in upper house 1/3 of the total members in the house gets
elected every 2 years with 6-year term.
Local government function at the basic level. It is the third level of government
apart from union and state governments. It consists of panchayats in rural areas
and municipalities in urban areas. They are elected directly or indirectly by the
people.

Finance

Taxation
India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union
government

to

levy income

tax,

tax

on

capital

transactions

(wealth

tax, inheritance tax), sales tax, service tax, customs and excise duties and
the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, tax
onentertainment and professions,

excise

duties

on

manufacture

of alcohol,stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on

land owned). The local governments are empowered by the state government to
levy property

tax and

charge

users

for public

utilities like water

supply,sewage etc.[7][8] More than half of the revenues of the union and state
governments come from taxes, of which 3/4 come from direct taxes. More than a
quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state
governments.[9]
The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure
and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:

Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises,

customs and making it more progressive

Reducing exemptions and concessions

40

Simplification of laws and procedures

Introduction of permanent account number (PAN) to track monetary

transactions

21 of the 29 states introduced value added tax (VAT) on 1 April 2005 to

replace the complex and multiple sales tax system[8][10]

The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services,
interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the
States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and
income from general, economic and social services.[11]
Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of
the Finance Commission to the President.
Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national
GDP. This compares to a figure of 3745% in the OECD.

Central Board of Direct Taxes

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is a part of the Department of
Revenue in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The CBDT provides
essential inputs for policy and planning of direct taxes in India and is also
responsible for administration of the direct tax laws through Income Tax
Department. The CBDT is a statutory authority functioning under the Central
Board of Revenue Act, 1963.It is India's official Financial Action Task Force on
Money Laundering (FATF) .The Central Board of Revenue as the Department
apex body charged with the administration of taxes came into existence as a
result of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924. Initially the Board was in
charge of both direct and indirect taxes. However, when the administration of
taxes became too unwieldy for one Board to handle, the Board was split up into
two, namely the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and

41

Customs with effect from 1.1.1964. This bifurcation was brought about by
constitution of the two Boards u/s 3 of the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963.

Organisational structure of the Central Board of Direct

Taxes
The CBDT is headed by Chairman and also comprises six members, all of whom
are ex officio Special Secretary to Government of India.The Investigation
Division of the Central Board of Direct Taxes is also headed by a member of the
CBDT.
The Chairman and Members of CBDT are selected from Indian Revenue Service
(IRS), a premier civil service of India, whose members constitute the top
management of Income Tax Department and other various departments.

General budget
The

Finance

minister

of

India

presents

the

annual union

budget in

the Parliament on the last working day of February. The budget has to be passed
by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on 1 April, the start of
India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which
outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the
country for the outgoing financial year. This economic survey involves all the
various NGOs, women organisations, business people, old people associations
etc.
The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 200910
was10208 billion (US$152 billion), of which6957 billion (US$103 billion) was
towards Non Plan and3251 billion (US$48 billion) towards Plan expenditure.
Total estimated revenue was6198 billion (US$92 billion), including revenue
receipts

of 6145

billion (US$91 billion)

billion (US$794 million),

was4009.96

excluding

billion(US$60 billion)

and

capital

borrowings.

The

while

revenue

receipts

resulting
deficit

of 53.45

fiscal

deficit

was 2827

42

billion (US$42 billion).The

gross

tax

billion(US$95 billion)

and non-tax

receipts

were

budgeted

revenue receipts

at 6411
at1403

billion (US$21 billion).

India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly five-fold in
200304 since 199091 and more than tenfold since 19851986. Interest
payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more
than 40% of the total non-development expenditure in the 200304 budget.
Defense expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been
increasing because of India's desire to project its military prowess beyond South
Asia. In 2007, India's defense spending stood at US$26.5 billion.

Electoral system
Introduction
India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government, and at the
heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections. These elections
determine the composition of the government, the membership of the two houses of
parliament, the state and union territory legislative assemblies, and the Presidency and vicepresidency.
Elections are conducted according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by laws
made by Parliament. The major laws are Representation of the People Act, 1950, which
mainly deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 which deals, in detail, with all aspects of conduct of elections and post

43

election disputes. The Supreme Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are
silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a given situation in the conduct of elections,
the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the Constitution to act in an
appropriate manner.

Indian Elections -Scale of Operation

Elections in India are events involving political mobilisation and organisational complexity on
an amazing scale. In the 2004 election to Lok Sabha there were 1351 candidates from 6
National parties, 801 candidates from 36 State parties, 898 candidates fromofficially
recognised parties and 2385 Independent candidates. A total number of 38,99,48,330
people voted out of total electorate size of 67,14,87,930. The Election Commission
employed almost 4 million people to run the election. A vast number of civilian police and
security forces were deployed to ensure that the elections were carried out peacefully.
Conduct of General Elections in India for electing a new Lower House of Parliament (Lok
Sabha) involves management of the largest event in the world. The electorate exceeds 670
million electors in about 700000 polling stations spread across widely varying geographic
and climatic zones. Polling stations are located in the snow-clad mountains in the Himalayas,
the deserts of the Rajasthan and in sparsely populated islands in the Indian Ocean.

Constituencies & Reservation of Seats

The country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies, each of which returns
one MP to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament. The size and shape of the
parliamentary constituencies are determined by an independent Delimitation Commission,
which aims to create constituencies which have roughly the same population, subject to
geographical considerations and the boundaries of the states and administrative areas.

How Constituency Boundaries are drawn up

Delimitation is the redrawing of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies
to make sure that there are, as near as practicable, the same number of people in each
constituency. In India boundaries are meant to be examined after the ten-yearly census to
reflect changes in population, for which Parliament by law establishes an independent
Delimitation Commission, made up of the Chief Election Commissioner and two judges or exjudges from the Supreme Court or High Court. However, under a constitutional amendment
of 1976, delimitation was suspended until after the census of 2001, ostensibly so that states
family-planning programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha and
Vidhan Sabhas. This has led to wide discrepancies in the size of constituencies, with the

44

largest having over 25,00,000 electors, and the smallest less than 50,000.Delimitation
exercise, with 2001 census data released on 31st December 2003, is now under process.

Reservation of Seats
The Constitution puts a limit on the size of the Lok Sabha of 550 elected members, apart
from two members who can be nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian
community. There are also provisions to ensure the representation of scheduled castes and
scheduled

tribes, with reserved constituencies where only

candidates from these

communities can stand for election.

System of Election
Elections to the Lok Sabha are carried out using a first-past-the-post electoral system. The
country is split up into separate geographical areas, known as constituencies, and the
electors can cast one vote each for a candidate (although most candidates stand as
independents, most successful candidates stand as members of political parties), the winner
being the candidate who gets the maximum votes.

Parliament
The Parliament of the Union consists of the President, the Lok Sabha (House of the People)
and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The President is the head of state, and he appoints
the Prime Minister, who runs the government, according to the political composition of the
Lok Sabha. Although the government is headed by a Prime Minister, the Cabinet is the
central decision making body of the government. Members of more than one party can make
up a government, and although the governing parties may be a minority in the Lok Sabha,
they can only govern as long as they have the confidence of a majority of MPs, the members
of the Lok Sabha. As well as being the body, which determines whom, makes up the
government, the Lok Sabha is the main legislative body, along with the Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha - The Council of States

The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly, rather than by the citizens at large.
Rajya Sabha members are elected by each state Vidhan Sabha using the single transferable
vote system. Unlike most federal systems, the number of members returned by each state is
roughly in proportion to their population. At present there are 233 members of the Rajya
Sabha elected by the Vidhan Sabhas, and there are also twelve members nominated by the
President as representatives of literature, science, art and social services. Rajya Sabha

45

members can serve for six years, and elections are staggered, with one third of the
assembly being elected every 2 years.

Nominated members
The president can nominate 2 members of the Lok Sabha if it is felt that the representation
of the Anglo-Indian community is inadequate, and 12 members of the Rajya Sabha, to
represent literature, science, art and the social services.

State Assemblies
India is a federal country, and the Constitution gives the states and union territories
significant control over their own government. The Vidhan Sabhas (legislative assemblies)
are directly elected bodies set up to carrying out the administration of the government in
the 28 States of India. In some states there is a bicameral organisation of legislatures, with
both an upper and Lower House. Two of the seven Union Territories viz., the National Capital
Territory of Delhi and Pondicherry, have also legislative assemblies.
Elections to the Vidhan Sabhas are carried out in the same manner as for the Lok Sabha
election, with the states and union territories divided into single-member constituencies, and
the first-past-the-post electoral system used. The assemblies range in size, according to
population. The largest Vidhan Sabha is for Uttar Pradesh, with 403 members; the smallest
Pondicherry, with 30 members.

President and Vice-President

The President is elected by the elected members of the Vidhan Sabhas, Lok Sabha, and
Rajya Sabha, and serves for a period of 5 years (although they can stand for re-election). A
formula is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state
and the number of votes assembly members from a state can cast, and to give an equal
balance between State Assembly members and National Parliament members. If no
candidate receives a majority of votes there is a system by which losing candidates are
eliminated from the contest and votes for them transferred to other candidates, until one
gain a majority. The Vice President is elected by a direct vote of all members elected and
nominated, of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Who can vote?

The democratic system in India is based on the principle of universal adult suffrage; that any
citizen over the age of 18 can vote in an election (before 1989 the age limit was 21). The
right to vote is irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. Those who are deemed
unsound of mind, and people convicted of certain criminal offences are not allowed to vote.

46

The Electoral Roll

The electoral roll is a list of all people in the constituency who are registered to vote in
Indian Elections. Only those people with their names on the electoral roll are allowed to vote.
The electoral roll is normally revised every year to add the names of those who are to turn
18 on the 1st January of that year or have moved into a constituency and to remove the
names of those who have died or moved out of a constituency. If you are eligible to vote and
are not on the electoral roll, you can apply to the Electoral Registration Officer of the
constituency, who will update the register. The updating of the Electoral Roll only stops
during an election campaign, after the nominations for candidates have closed.

Computerisation of Rolls
In 1998 the Commission took a historic decision to computerise the entire electoral rolls of
620 million voters. This work has been completed and now well printed electoral rolls are
available. The photo identity card number of the voter has also been printed in the electoral
rolls, for cross linking. The printed electoral rolls as well as CDs containing these rolls are
available for sale to general public. National and State parties are provided these free of cost
after every revision of electoral rolls. Entire country's rolls are also available on this website.

Electors' Photo Identity Cards (EPIC)

In an attempt to improve the accuracy of the electoral roll and prevent electoral fraud, the
Election Commission ordered the making ofphoto identity cards for allvoters in the country
in Aug, 1993. To take advantage of latest technological innovations, the Commission issued
revised guidelines for EPIC Program in May 2000. More than 450 million Identity cards has
been distributed till now.

Voter Education
Voters' Participation in the democratic and electoral processes is integral to the successful
running of any democracy and the very basis of wholesome democratic elections.
Recognising this, Election Commission of India, in 2009, formally adopted Voter Education
and Electoral participation as an integral part of its election management.

When do elections take place?

Elections for the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly have to take place every
five years, unless called earlier. The President can dissolve Lok Sabha and call a general

47

election before five years is up, if the government can no longer command the confidence of
the Lok Sabha, and if there is no alternative government available to take over.
Governments have found it increasingly difficult to stay in power for the full term of a Lok
Sabha in recent times, and so elections have often been held before the five-year limit has
been reached. A constitutional amendment passed in 1975, as part of the government
declared emergency, postponed the election due to be held in 1976. This amendment was
later rescinded, and regular elections resumed in 1977.
Holding of regular elections can only be stopped by means of a constitutional amendment
and in consultation with the Election Commission, and it is recognised that interruptions of
regular elections are acceptable only in extraordinary circumstances.

Scheduling the Elections

When the five-year limit is up, or the legislature has been dissolved and new elections have
been called, the Election Commission puts into effect the machinery for holding an election.
The constitution states that there can be no longer than 6 months between the last session
of the dissolved Lok Sabha and the recalling of the new House, so elections have to be
concluded before then.
In a country as huge and diverse as India, finding a period when elections can be held
throughout the country is not simple. The Election Commission, which decides the schedule
for elections, has to take account of the weather - during winter constituencies may be
snow-bound, and during the monsoon access to remote areas restricted -, the agricultural
cycle - so that the planting or harvesting of crops is not disrupted, exam schedules - as
schools are used as polling stations and teachers employed as election officials, and
religious festivals and public holidays. On top of this there are the logistical difficulties that
go with holding an election - sending out ballot boxes or EVMs, setting up polling booths,
recruiting officials to oversee the elections.
The Commission normally announces the schedule of elections in a major Press Conference
a few weeks before the formal process is set in motion. The Model Code of Conduct for
guidance of candidates and Political Parties immediately comes into effect after such
announcement. The formal process for the elections starts with the Notification or
Notifications calling upon the electorate to elect Members of a House. As soon as
Notifications are issued, Candidates can start filing their nominations in the constituencies
from where they wish to contest. These are scrutinised by the Returning Officer of the
constituency concerned after the last date for the same is over after about a week. The

48

validly nominated candidates can withdraw from the contest within two days from the date
of scrutiny. Contesting candidates get at least two weeks for political campaign before the
actual date of poll. On account of the vast magnitude of operations and the massive size of
the electorate, polling is held at least on three days for the national elections. A separate
date for counting is fixed and the results declared for each constituency by the concerned
Returning Officer. The Commission compiles the complete list of Members elected and issues
an appropriate Notification for the due Constitution of the House. With this, the process of
elections is complete and the President, in case of the Lok Sabha, and the Governors of the
concerned States, in case of State Legislatures, can then convene their respective Houses to
hold their sessions. The entire process takes between 5 to 8 weeks for the national elections,
4 to 5 weeks for separate elections only for Legislative Assemblies.

Who can stand for Election

Any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25 years of age is allowed to
contest elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies. For the Rajya Sabha the
age limit is 30 years.
very candidate has to make a deposit of Rs. 10,000/- for Lok Sabha election and 5,000/- for
Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections, except for candidates from the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes who pay half of these amounts. The deposit is returned if the
candidate receives more than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled in the
constituency. Nominations must be supported at least by one registered elector of the
constituency, in the case of a candidate sponsored by a registered Party and by ten
registered electors from the constituency in the case of other candidates. Returning Officers,
appointed by the Election Commission, are put in charge to receive nominations of
candidates in each constituency, and oversee the formalities of the election.
In a number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha, the candidates can only be
from either one of the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. The number of these reserved
seats is meant to be approximately in proportion to the number of people from scheduled
castes or scheduled tribes in each state. There are currently 79 seats reserved for the
scheduled castes and 41 reserved for the scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha.

Number of Candidates
The number of candidates contesting each election steadily increased. In the general
election of 1952 the average number of candidates in each constituency was 3.8; by 1991 it
had risen to 16.3, and in 1996 stood at 25.6. As it was far too easy for frivolous candidates
to stand for election, certain remedial measures were taken in August 1996, which included

49

increasing the size of the deposit and making the number of people who have to nominate a
candidate larger. The impact of such measures was quite considerable at the elections which
were subsequently held.As a result, in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the number of candidates
came down to an average of 8.74 per constituency. In 1999 Lok Sabha elections, it was 8.6,
and in 2004 it was 10.

Campaign
The campaign is the period when the political parties put forward their candidates and
arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for their candidates and parties.
Candidates are given a week to put forward their nominations. These are scrutinised by the
Returning Officers and if not found to be in order can be rejected after a summary hearing.
Validly nominated candidates can withdraw within two days after nominations have been
scrutinised. The official campaign lasts at least two weeks from the drawing up of the list of
nominated candidates, and officially ends 48 hours before polling closes.
During the election campaign the political parties and contesting candidates are expected to
abide by a Model Code of Conduct evolved by the Election Commission on the basis of a
consensus among political parties. The model Code lays down broad guidelines as to how
the political parties and candidates should conduct themselves during the election
campaign. It is intended to maintain the election campaign on healthy lines, avoid clashes
and conflicts between political parties or their supporters and to ensure peace and order
during the campaign period and thereafter, until the results are declared. The model code
also prescribes guidelines for the ruling party either at the Centre or in the State to ensure
that a level field in maintained and that no cause is given for any complaint that the ruling
party has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign.
Once an election has been called, parties issue manifestos detailing the programmes they
wish to implement if elected to government, the strengths of their leaders, and the failures
of opposing parties and their leaders. Slogans are used to popularise and identify parties
and issues, and pamphlets and posters distributed to the electorate. Rallies and meetings
where the candidates try to persuade, cajole and enthuse supporters, and denigrate
opponents, are held throughout the constituencies. Personal appeals and promises of reform
are made, with candidates travelling the length and breadth of the constituency to try to
influence as many potential supporters as possible. Party symbols abound, printed on
posters and placards.

50

Polling Days
Polling is normally held on a number of different days in different constituencies, to enable
the security forces and those monitoring the election to keep law and order and ensure that
voting during the election is fair.

Ballot Papers & Symbols

After nomination of candidates is complete, a list of competing candidates is prepared by the
Returning Officer, and ballot papers are printed. Ballot papers are printed with the names of
the candidates (in languages set by the Election Commission) and the symbols allotted to
each of the candidates. Candidates of recognised Parties are allotted their Party symbols.

How the voting takes place

Voting is by secret ballot. Polling stations are usually set up in public institutions, such as
schools and community halls. To enable as many electors as possible to vote, the officials of
the Election Commission try to ensure that there is a polling station within 2km of every
voter, and that no polling stations should have to deal with more than 1500 voters. Each
polling station is open for at least 8 hours on the day of the election.
On entering the polling station, the elector is checked against the Electoral Roll, and
allocated a ballot paper. The elector votes by marking the ballot paper with a rubber stamp
on or near the symbol of the candidate of his choice, inside a screened compartment in the
polling station. The voter then folds the ballot paper and inserts it in a common ballot box
which is kept in full view of the Presiding Officer and polling agents of the candidates. This
marking system eliminates the possibility of ballot papers being surreptitiously taken out of
the polling station or not being put in the ballot box.
Since 1998, the Commission has increasingly used Electronic Voting Machines instead of
ballot boxes. In 2003, all state elections and bye elections were held using EVMs.
Encouraged by this the Commission took a historic decision to use only EVMs for the Lok
Sabha election due in 2004. More than 1 million EVMs were used in this election.

Political Parties and Elections

Political parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct of
elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties. Although many
candidates for Indian elections are independent, the winning candidates for Lok Sabha and
Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of political parties, and opinion polls
suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather than a particular candidate. Parties offer
candidates organisational support, and by offering a broader election campaign, looking at

51

the record of government and putting forward alternative proposals for government, help
voters make a choice about how the government is run.

Registration with Election Commission

Political parties have to be registered with the Election Commission. The Commission
determines whether the party is structured and committed to principles of democracy,
secularism and socialism in accordance with the Indian Constitution and would uphold the
sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Parties are expected to hold organisational elections
and have a written constitution.

Recognition and Reservation of Symbols

According to certain criteria, set by the Election Commission regarding the length of political
activity and success in elections, parties are categorised by the Commission as National or
State parties, or simply declared registered-unrecognised parties. How a party is classified
determines a partys right to certain privileges, such as access to electoral rolls and
provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations All India Radio and Doordarshan - and also the important question of the allocation of the
party symbol. Party symbols enable illiterate voters to identify the candidate of the party
they wish to vote for. National parties are given a symbol that is for their use only,
throughout the country. State parties have the sole use of a symbol in the state in which
they are recognised as such Registered-unrecognised parties can choose a symbol from a
selection of free symbols.

Limit on poll expenses

There are tight legal limits on the amount of money a candidate can spend during the
election campaign. Since December 1997, in most Lok Sabha constituencies the limit was Rs
15,00,000/-, although in some States the limit is Rs 6,00,000/- (for Vidhan Sabha elections
the highest limit is Rs 6,00,000/-, the lowest Rs 3,00,000/-). Recent amendment in October
2003 has increased these limits. For Lok Sabha seats in bigger states, it is now Rs 25,00,000.
In other states and Union Territories, it varies between Rs 10,00,000 to Rs 25,00,000.
Similarly, for Assembly seats, in bigger states, it is now Rs 10,00,000, while in other states
and Union Territories, it varies between Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 10,00,000. Although supporters of
a candidate can spend as much as they like to help out with a campaign, they have to get
written permission of the candidate, and whilst parties are allowed to spend as much money
on campaigns as they want, recent Supreme Court judgments have said that, unless a

52

political party can specifically account for money spent during the campaign, it will consider
any activities as being funded by the candidates and counting towards their election
expenses. The accountability imposed on the candidates and parties has curtailed some of
the more extravagant campaigning that was previously a part of Indian elections.

Free Campaign time on state owned electronic media

By Election Commission, all recognised National and State parties have been allowed free
access to the state owned electronic media-AIR and Doordarshan- on an extensive scale for
their campaigns during elections. The total free time allocated extends over 122 hours on
the state owned Television and Radio channels. This is allocated equitably by combining a
base limit and additional time linked to poll performance of the party in recent election.

Splits and mergers and anti-defection law

Splits, mergers and alliances have frequently disrupted the compositions of political parties.
This has led to a number of disputes over which section of a divided party gets to keep the
party symbol, and how to classify the resulting parties in terms of national and state parties.
The Election Commission has to resolve these disputes, although its decisions can be
challenged in the courts.

Election Petitions
Any elector or candidate can file an election petition if he or she thinks there has been
malpractice during the election. An election petition is not an ordinary civil suit, but treated
as a contest in which the whole constituency is involved. Election petitions are tried by the
High Court of the State involved, and if upheld can even lead to the restaging of the election
in that constituency.

Supervising Elections, Election Observers

The Election Commission appoints a large number of Observers to ensure that the campaign
is conducted fairly, and that people are free to vote as they choose. Election expenditure
Observers keeps a check on the amount that each candidate and party spends on the
election.

Counting of Votes
After the polling has finished, the votes are counted under the supervision of Returning
Officers and Observers appointed by the Election Commission. After the counting of votes is
over, the Returning Officer declares the name of the candidate to whom the largest number

53

of votes have been given as the winner, and as having been returned by the constituency to
the concerned house.

Media Coverage
In order to bring as much transparency as possible to the electoral process, the media are
encouraged and provided with facilities to cover the election, although subject to
maintaining the secrecy of the vote. Media persons are given special passes to enter polling
stations to cover the poll process and the counting halls during the actual counting of votes.

political parties in India

India has a multi-party system with recognition accorded to national and state
and District level parties. The status is reviewed periodically by the Election
Commission of India. Other political parties that wish to contest local, state or
national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of
India (ECI). Registered parties are upgraded as recognized national or state level
parties based upon objective criteria. A recognized party enjoys privileges like
reserved party symbol,[A] free broadcast time on state run television and radio,
consultation in setting of election dates and giving inputs in setting electoral
rules and regulations.

[1]

This listing is according to the Indian general election, 2014 and Legislative
Assembly elections[2][3] and any party aspiring to State or National party status
must fulfil at least one of the concerned criteria. In addition, national and state
parties have to fulfill these conditions for all subsequent Lok Sabha or State
elections, or else they lose their status. [1] As of 16 September 2014, the total
number of parties registered was 1761, with six national, 49 state [2] and 1706
unrecognised parties.[3][4]
All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of
available symbols offered by the EC. All 29 states of the country along with
the union

territories of Puducherry and

the National

Capital

Territory

of

Delhi have elected governments unless President's rule is imposed under certain
conditions.

54

National
A registered party is recognised as a National Party only if it fulfils any one of the
following three conditions:[5]
1. The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha (as of 2014, 11 seats) from at
least 3 different States.
2. At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls
6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats.
3. A party gets recognition as State Party in four or more States.
Recognised national parties as of 16 September 2014[2]

N
o.

Name

Bharatiya
Janata Party

Indian National
Congress

Abbreviat

Symb

ion

ol

BJP

Foundat
ion
year

Party

of

(Marxist)

leader(s)

1980

Amit Shah

1885

Sonia Gandhi

Lotus

INC
Hand

Communist
3

Current

India CPI-M

Hammer,
sickle
and star

1964

Sitaram
Yechury

55

Recognised national parties as of 16 September 2014[2]

Name

o.

Communist

Party of India

Abbreviat

Symb

ion

ol

CPI

Ears

Foundat
ion
year

of

corn

Current
leader(s)

Suravaram
1925

Sudhakar
Reddy

and
sickle

Bahujan

Samaj

Party

BSP

Elephant[

1984

Mayawati

1999

Sharad Pawar

B]

Nationalist

Congress Party

NCP

Clock

State
A registered party has to fulfill any of the following conditions for recognition as
a State Party:
1. A party should win minimum three percent of the total number of seats or
a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly.
2. A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or
any fraction thereof allotted to that State.

56

3. A political party should secure at least six percent of the total valid votes
polled during general election to a Lok Sabha or State Legislative
Assembly and should, in addition, win at least one Lok Sabha, and two
Legislative Assembly seats in that election,
4. Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause has been added to provide
that even if a Party fails to win any seat in a State in a general election to
the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly of the State, the party will still be
eligible for recognition as State Party if it secures 8% or more of the total
valid votes polled in the State.[6]
Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Aam
1

Aadmi

AAP

Party

All

Broom

2012

Dravida

AIADMK

1972

India

Forward
Bloc

Delhi, Punjab

Jayalalitha Kerala,Puducherry
a

,Tamil Nadu

Kazhagam

Two
Leave

Munnetra

All

Kejriwal

India

Anna
2

Arvind

States/UT

AIFB

1939
Lion

Debabrat
a Biswas

West Bengal

57

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

All

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

India

Majlis-e4

States/UT

Ittehadul

AIMIM

1927
Kite

Muslimee

Asaduddi
n Owaisi

Telangana

All
5

India

N.R.

N.
AINRC

Congress

All
6

2011

Arunachal
AITC

Flower 1998
s

Congress

&

Mamata

Pradesh,Manipur,T

Banerjee

ripura, West
Bengal

Grass

All
7

India

United
Democrati

AIUDF

All
Jharkhand

Lock

2004

Badruddin
Ajmal

Assam

& Key

c Front

Puducherry

my

Jug

India

Trinamool

Rangasa

AJSU

1986
Banan

Sudesh
Mahto

Jharkhand

58

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Students

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Union

Asom
9

Gana

Prafulla
AGP

Parishad

10

Biju Janata
Dal

Eleph

1985

BJD

Conch

People's

BPF

Front

Kumar

Assam

Mahanta

ant

1997

Bodoland
11

States/UT

Nango 1985
l

Naveen
Patnaik

Hagrama
Mohilary

Odisha

Assam

Desiya
12

Murpokku
Dravidar

DMDK

Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam

Vijayakant
h

Tamil Nadu

Kazhagam

13

Nagar

2005

DMK

1949
Rising

M.

Puducherry,Tamil

Karunanid

Nadu

hi

59

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

States/UT

Sun

Haryana
14

Janhit
Congress

HJC(BL)

Tracto
r

2007

Kuldeep
Bishnoi

Haryana

(BL)

Hill
15

State

People's
Democrati

HSPDP

1968
Lion

H.S.
Lyngdoh

Meghalaya

c Party

Indian
16

National

Om
INLD

Lok Dal

Spect

1999

Prakash

Haryana

Chautala

acles

Indian
17

Union
Muslim

IUML

League

18

Jammu
Kashmir

Ladde

1948

E.
Ahamed

Kerala

& JKNC

1932
Ploug

Omar
Abdullah

Jammu & Kashmir

60

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

States/UT

National
Conferenc

Jammu

&

Kashmir
19

National

JKNPP

Panthers

Bicycl

1982

Bhim
Singh

Jammu & Kashmir

Party

Jammu
and
20

Kashmir
People's

JKPDP

Ink

1998

Pot &

Democrati

Mehbooba
Mufti

Jammu & Kashmir

Pen

c Party

21

Janata Dal
(Secular)

JD(S)

Lady
Farme
r

1999

H.D. Deve
Gowda

Karnataka,Kerala

61

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

22

Janata Dal
(United)

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

JD(U)

Arrow

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

1999

Jharkhand
23

Mukti

JMM

Morcha

Bow & 1972

Arrow

Nitish

States/UT

Bihar

Kumar

Shibu

Jharkhand

Soren

Jharkhand
Vikas
24

Morcha

JVM(P)

2006
Comb

(Prajatantr

Babu

Lal

Marandi

Jharkhand

ik)

Kerala
25

Congress

KC(M)

Two

1979

Leave

(M)

C.F.
Thomas

Kerala

Lok
26

Janshakti
Party

LJP

Bunga
low

2000

Ram Vilas
Paswan

Bihar

62

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Maharasht
27

ra
Navnirma

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Railwa
MNS

2006

Engin

n Sena

28

Gomantak

MGP

1963
Lion

Congress

Goa

Kakodkar

Manipur
29

Maharashtra

Shashikal

Party

State

Thackeray

Maharasht
rawadi

Raj

States/UT

Wahengb
Cultiv
MSCP

ator

1997

Cut

Party

am
Nipamach

Manipur

Crop

Mizo
30

National
Front

Pu
MNF

1959
Star

Zoramtha
nga

Mizoram

63

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Mizoram
31

Pu

People's
Conferenc

MPC

Electri

1972

People's

NPF

Front

2002
Cock

National
33

People's

NPP

2013
Book

Party

Lalhmingt

Neiphiu
Rio

P.A.
Sangma

Pattali
34

Makkal

PMK

Katchi

Mang

Mizoram

hanga

c Bulb

Naga
32

States/UT

Manipur,Nagaland

Meghalaya

Puducherry,Tamil

1989

G. K. Mani

1987

Tomo Riba Arunachal Pradesh

Nadu

People's
35

Party

of PPA

Arunachal

Maize

64

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

36

Rashtriya
Janata Dal

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

States/UT

Lalu
RJD

Hurric

1997

Prasad

Bihar, Jharkhand

Yadav

ane
Lamp

37

Rashtriya
Lok Dal

RLD

Hand

1996

Ajit Singh

Uttar Pradesh

Pump

Rashtriya
38

Lok Samta RLSP

Ceilin

Party

g Fan

2013

Revolution
39

ary
Socialist

Samajwad
i Party

Kushwaha

T.
RSP

Spade

1940

&

Party

40

Upendra

J.

Chandrac
hoodan

Bihar

Kerala, West
Bengal

Stoker

SP

1992

Mulayam
Singh

Uttar Pradesh

65

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Bicycl

Yadav

41

42

Shiromani
Akali Dal

Shiv Sena

States/UT

Parkash
SAD

1920
Scales

SS

Bow
and

Singh

Punjab

Badal

1966

Uddhav
Thackeray

Maharashtra

Arrow

Sikkim
43

Democrati

Pawan
SDF

c Front

Umbr

1993

Krantikari

Prem
SKM

Morcha

45

Telangana

Sikkim

Chamling

ella

Sikkim
44

Kumar

Table

2013

Sikkim

Tamang

Lamp

TRS

Singh

2001

Kalvakuntl Telangana

66

Recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014[3]

N
o

Name

Abbre

Sy

viatio

mb

ol

Foun

Curren

datio

leader(

Year

s)

Rashtra

Car

Samithi

Chandras
hekar Rao

N.

Telugu
46

Desam

TDP

Party

Bicycl

1982

Democrati

UDP

c Party

1972
Drum

YSR
48

Chandra

Andhra

Babu

Pradesh,Telangana

Naidu

United
47

Donkupar
Roy

Y.

Congress

States/UT

YSRCP

Party

Ceilin

2009

S.

Jaganmoh
an Reddy

g Fan

Meghalaya

Andhra
Pradesh,Telangana

Samajwad
i
49

Janata

Party
(Rashtriya
)

SJP

Barga
d

1990

Chandra
Shekhar

Uttar Pradesh

67

Unrecognised[edit]
Unrecognised registered notable parties[C] as of 16 September
2014[2][3][4]

Abbreviat

Name

ion

All

Foundat
ion
Year

Current

States/UT

leader(s)

India

Samathuva

AISMK

2007

AMB

1983

BMSM

1994

FIP

2012

R. Sarathkumar Tamil Nadu

Makhal Katchi

Amra Bangali

Prabhat Ranjan
Sarkar

West Bengal

Bharatiya
Minorities
Suraksha

Haji

Mastan

Mirza

Maharashtra

Mahasangh

The

Future

India Party

Indhiya
Jananayaga

Subi

Tamil Nadu

T.R.
IJK

2010

JSP

2014

Pachamuthu

Tamil Nadu

Katchi
Jai
Samaikyandhr
a Party

Nallari

Kiran

Kumar Reddy

Andhra Pradesh

68

Unrecognised registered notable parties[C] as of 16 September

2014[2][3][4]

Abbreviat

Name

ion

Jana

Sena

Party
Jan

Foundat
ion
Year

Current
leader(s)

States/UT

Andhra
JSP

2014

Pawan Kalyan

Pradesh,Telanga
na

Shakti

Party of India[7]

JSPI

2015

Gurjeet

Singh

Azad

Punjab

Kongunadu
Makkal

Desia KMDK

2013

E. R. Eswaran

Tamil Nadu

Katchi
Kongunadu
Makkal Katchi

KMK

2001

Tamil Nadu

KNMK

2001

Tamil Nadu

Kongunadu
Munnetra
Kazhagam
Lok

Satta

Party

LSP

2006

Rayalaseema
Parirakshana

Peoples Party

Narayan

Andhra
Pradesh,Telanga
na

Byreddy
RPS

2013

Samithi
Manipur

Jayaprakash

Rajasekhar

Andhra Pradesh

Reddy
MPP

1968

Sovakiran N.

Manipur

69

Unrecognised registered notable parties[C] as of 16 September

2014[2][3][4]

Name

Manithaneya
Makkal Katchi

Abbreviat
ion

Foundat
ion
Year

Current
leader(s)
M.Thamimun

MMK

2009

MDMK

1992

Vaiko

NTK

2010

Seeman

OJM

2013

Ansari

States/UT

Tamil Nadu

Marumalarchi
Dravida
Munnetra

Tamil Nadu

Kazhagam
Naam Tamilar
Katchi
Odisha
Janmorcha

Puducherry, Ta
mil Nadu

Pyarimohan
Mohapatra

Odisha

Adhyatmik
Param
Digvijay Dal

PDD

2014

Neta

Krishna

Mohan Shankar

Uttar Pradesh

Yogi
Peace Party of
India
Puthiya
Tamilagam

PPI

2008

Mohamed Ayub Uttar Pradesh

PTK

1996

K. Krishnasamy Tamil Nadu

2001

U. Thaniyarasu

Tamilnadu
Kongu Ilaingar KIP
Peravai

Tamil Nadu

70

Unrecognised registered notable parties[C] as of 16 September

2014[2][3][4]

Foundat

Abbreviat

Name

ion

Uttarakhand
Kranti Dal

Current

ion
Year

UKD

States/UT

leader(s)
Kashi

1979

Singh

Airy

Viduthalai

Uttarakhand

Thol.

Chiruthaigal

VCK

1972

Thirumavalava

Katchi

Tamil Nadu

Panchayati raj
The Panchayati Raj in India generally refers to the system introduced by
constitutional

amendment

in

1992,

although

it

is

based

upon

the

traditional panchayat system of South Asia. The modern panchayati raj and
its gram

panchayats are

not

to

be

confused

with

the

extra-

constitutional khap panchayats (or caste panchayats) found in northern India.

While the panchayati raj system was formalized in 1992, leading up to that

[1]

change, a number of Indian committees studied various ways of implementing

more decentralized administration.

Mahatma Gandhi advocated panchayati raj as the foundation of India's political

system, it would have been a decentralized form of government where each
village would be responsible for its own affairs. [2][3] The term for such a vision
was Gram Swaraj ("village self-governance"). Instead India developed a highly

71

centralized form of government.[4]However, this has been moderated by the

delegation of several administrative functions to the local level, empowering
elected gram panchayats. There are significant differences between (1) the
traditional panchayati raj system, (2) that envisioned by Gandhi, and (3) the
system formalized in India in 1992. [5]
In India, the Panchayati Raj now functions as a system of governance in which
gram panchayats are the basic unit of local administration. The system has
three levels: gram panchayat (village level), mandal parishad or block samiti or
panchayat samiti (block level) and zila parishad (district level). [6] It was
formalized in 1992 by the 73rd amendment to the Indian Constitution. [7]
Various Committees on Panchayati Raj :
1. Balwant Rai Mehta : Estd 1957
2. V.T.Krishnammachari : 1960
3. Takhatmal Jain Study Group: 1966
4. Ashok Mehta Committee : 1977
5. G.V.K Rao committee :1985
6. Dr.L.M.Singhvi Committee:1986

Recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee

The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, headed by MP Balwantrai Mehta, was a
committee appointed by the Government of India in January 1957 to examine
the working of the Community Development Programme (1952) and the
National Extension Service (1953) and to suggest measures for their better
working. The recommendations of the committee were approved by NDC in
January 1958, and this set the stage for the launching of Panchayati Raj
Institutions

throughout

the

country.

The

committee

recommended

the

establishment of the scheme of democratic decentralisation which finally came

to be known as Panchayati Raj.

72

(i) Establishment of a 3-tier Panchayati Raj system - Gram Panchayat at the

village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level, and Zila Parishad at the district
level.
The Panchayat Raj system was first adopted by the state of Rajsthan in Nagaur
district on 2nd Oct 1959. The second state was Andhra Pradesh, while
Maharashtra was the Ninth state. This system was adopted by state
governments during the 1950s and 60s, as laws were passed to establish
panchayats in various states. It also founded backing in the Indian Constitution,
with the 73rd amendment in 1992 to accommodate the idea. The Amendment
Act of 1992 contains provision for devolution of powers and responsibilities to
the panchayats, both for the preparation of economic development plans and
social justice, as well as for implementation in relation to 29 subjects listed in
the eleventh schedule of the constitution. [8]
The panchayats receive funds from three sources:[8]
1. Local body grants, as recommended by the Central Finance Commission
2. Funds for implementation of centrally sponsored schemes
3. Funds released by the state governments on the recommendations of the
State Finance Commissions
In the history of Panchayati Raj, in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional
(73rd Amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to
the Panchayati Raj institutions. This act was extended to Panchayats in the tribal
areas

of

eight

states,

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya

namely Andhra

Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal

Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthanstarting

24

December 1996. Currently, the Panchayati Raj system exists in all the states
except Nagaland, Meghalaya andMizoram, and in all Union Territories except
Delhi.[9] The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was a committee appointed by
the Government of India in January 1957 to examine the working of the
Community Development Programme (1952). The Act aims to provide a 3-tier

73

system of Panchayati Raj for all States having a population of over 2 million, to
hold Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years, to provide seats reservations
for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women; to appoint a State Finance
Commission to make recommendations regarding the financial powers of the
Panchayats and to constitute a District Planning Committee, to prepare a
development plan draft for the district. The 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj
consists of:
1. Village-level Panchayats
2. Block-level Panchayats
3. District-level Panchayats.
Powers and responsibilities are delegated to panchayats at the appropriate
level:

Preparation of the economic development plan and social justice plan.

Implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice

in relation to 29 subjects given in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

To levy and collect appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.

Block level panchayat

A panchayat

samiti (block

panchayat)

is

local

government

body

at

the tehsil level. This body works for the villages of the tehsil that together are
called a "development block". The panchayat samiti is the link between the
gram panchayat and the district administration. Just as the "tehsil" goes by
other names in various part of India, notably "mandal" and "taluka", there are a
number of variations in nomenclature for the block panchayat. For example, it is
known as "mandal praja parishad" in Andhra Pradesh, "taluka panchayat"
in Gujarat,

"mandal

panchayat"

inKarnataka,

and

"panchayat

samiti"

74

inMaharashtra. In general, the block panchayat has the same form as the gram
panchayat but at a higher level.

Constituency
Membership in the block panchayat is mostly ex-official; it is composed of all of
the sarpanchas (gram panchayat chairmen) in the panchayat samiti area, the
MPs and MLAs of the area and the sub-district officer (SDO) of the subdivision,
co-opt members (representatives of the SC/ST and women), associate members
(a farmer of the area, a representative of the cooperative societies and one from
marketing services), and some elected members.
The panchayat samiti is elected for a term of five years and is headed by a
chairman and a deputy chairman.

Departments
The common departments in the Samiti are as follows:
1. General administration
2. Finance
3. Public work
4. Agriculture
5. Health
6. Education
7. Social welfare
8. Information technology,
9. Water Supply Dept.

75

10.

Animal Husbandry and others.

There is an officer for every department. A government appointed Block

Development Officer (BDO) is the executive officer to the Samiti and the chief of
its administration.BDO is responsible for his work to the CEO of ZP.

Functions
1. Implementation of schemes for the development of agriculture and
infrastructure.
2. Establishment of primary health centres and primary schools.
3. Supply of drinking water, drainage and construction/repair of roads.
4. Development of cottage and small-scale industries, and the opening of
cooperative societies.
5. Establishment of youth organisations.

District level panchayat

The governing of the system of advance system at district level in Panchayat
Raj is also popularly known as "Zila Parishad". Chief of administration is an
officer of the IAS cadre.

Functions
1. Provide essential services and facilities to the rural population
2. Supply improved seeds to farmers. Inform them of new farming
techniques
3. Set up and run schools and libraries in the rural areas

76

4. Start Primary Health Centers and hospitals in villages. Start vaccination

drives against epidemics
5. Execute plans for the development of the scheduled castes and tribes.
Run ashramshalas for adivasi children. Set up free hostels for them
6. Encourage entrepreneurs to start small-scale industries and implement
rural employment schemes
7. Construct bridges, roads & other public facilities and their maintenance
8. Provide employment

Sources of Income
1. 1.Taxes on water, pilgrimage, markets, and many more.
1. 2.Fixed grant from the State Government in proportion with the land
revenue and money for works and schemes assigned to the Parishad.

Village level panchayat

A gram panchayat is a village level administrative body. It has a Sarpanch as its
elected head. The members of the Gram Panchayat are elected for a period of
five years by the members of Gram Sabha.[10]

Reservation for women in PRIs in India

On August 27, 2009, The Union Cabinet of the Government of India approved
50% reservation for women in PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institutions). The Indian
states Madhya

Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, HimachalPradesh,[11] Andhra

Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajast

han and Tripura have implemented 50% reservation for women in PRIs. [12][13] The
majority of candidates in these Panchayaths are women. Currently 100% of
elected members in Kodassery Panchayat in Kerala are Women.

77

Communism in India
Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of
the broader Indian independence movement against the colonialBritish Raj. It grew quickly
in popularity as it espoused the causes of India's farmers and labourers against
the zamindars, princely class and landed gentry. Socialism shaped the principle economic
and social policies of the Indian government after independence until the early 1990s, when
India moved towards a more market-based economy. However, it remains a potent
influence on Indian politics, with a large number of national and regional political parties
espousing democratic socialism.
Small socialist revolutionary groups arose in India in the aftermath of theOctober
Revolution in Russia. The Communist Party of India was established in 1921, but socialism
as an ideology gained a nationwide appeal after it was endorsed by nationalist leaders such
as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. Radical socialists were amongst the first
to call for outright Indian independence from Britain. Under Nehru, the Indian National
Congress, India's largest political party, adopted socialism as an ideology for socioeconomic policies in 1936. Radical socialists and communists also engineered the Tebhaga
movement of farmers in Bengal against the landed gentry. However, mainstream Indian
socialism connected itself with Gandhism and adopted peaceful struggle instead of class
warfare.
After India's independence in 1947, the Indian government under prime ministers Nehru
and Indira Gandhi oversaw land reform and the nationalisation of major industries and the
banking sector. Independently, activists Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan worked
for peaceful land redistribution under the Sarvodaya movement, where landlords granted
land to farm workers out of their own free will. In the 1960s, the Communist Party of India
formed India's first democratically-elected communist government when it won elections in
the states of Kerala and later West Bengal. However, when a global recessionbegan in the
late 1970s, economic stagnation, chronic shortages and state inefficiency left many
disillusioned with state socialism. In the late 1980s and 1990s, India's government began to
systematically liberalise the Indian economy by pursuing privatisation, aiming to attract
foreign investment. Nevertheless, the Congress party continues to espouse some socialist
causes, and other major parties such as the Communists, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj
Party and several others openly espouse socialism

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Terrorism in India
A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to
intimidate a population or government for political, religious, orideological goals.[3]
[4]

Terrorism in India, according to the Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the

people of India. Terrorism found in India includes ethno-nationalist terrorism, religious

terrorism, left wing terrorism andnarco terrorism.[5][6][7]
The regions with long term terrorist activities have been Jammu and Kashmir, east-central
and south-central India (Naxalism) and the Seven Sister States. In August 2008, National
Security Advisor M K Narayanan has said that there are as many as 800 terrorist
cells operating in the country.[8] As of 2013, 205 of the countrys 608 districts were affected
by terrorist activity.[9] Terror attacks caused 231 civilian deaths in 2012 in India, compared to
11,098 terror-caused deaths worldwide, according to the State Department of the United
States; or about 2% of global terror fatalities while it accounts for 17.5% of global
population.[1]
Media reports have alleged and implicated terrorism in India to be sponsored by Pakistan,
particularly through its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).[10][11] In 2012, the US accused
Pakistan of enabling and ignoring anti-India terrorist cells working on its soil; however,
Pakistan has denied its involvement