CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGNS

Fill in the blanks and Q&A

1. All countries that are democratic will have a constitution.
2. After the war of Independence against Great Britain, America gave
themselves a constitution.
3. In 1928 Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a
constitution for India.
4. In 1931 at the Karachi Session of the Indian National Congress, decided
how an Independent India’s Constitution should look like.
5. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian Constitution had 299
members.
6. Our Indian Constitution came into force on 26th January 1950.
7. What is a constitution and what is the importance of a constitution?
(To be marked in the text)
8. Like South Africa India’s Constitution was also drawn up under very
difficult circumstances. Discuss.
a. Making of the constitution for a huge and diverse country like India was not
an easy affair.
b. At that time the people of India was emerging from the status of subjects to
that of citizens. Besides the country was divided based on religious differences
and it was a traumatic experience for the people of India and Pakistan.
c. British had left it to the rulers of princely states to decide whether they
wanted to join with India or Pakistan or they wanted to remain independent
and this was a tough decision to make.
d. The makers of the constitution had anxieties about the present and future of
the country.
9. What were the advantages for the makers of Indian constitution?
a. Unlike South Africa they did not have to create a consensus (awareness)
about how a democratic country should look like
b. Much of these consensuses had evolved during freedom struggle.
c. Our national movement was not merely a struggle against a foreign rule. It
was also a struggle to rejuvenate (revive) our country and transform our
society and politics.
10. Why did the Indian Constitution adopt many Institutional details and
procedures from the colonial laws?
a. Indian constitution adopted many institutional details from colonial laws
like the Government of India Act of 1935
b. But sometimes the British Legislatures were not fully democratic
governments. For example: The British rule had given voting rights to selected
few and that created very weak legislatures.
c. Yet, the experience of having worked with the political institutions of
colonial rule helped in setting up its own institutions and working in them.
11. Mention some factors that contributed in making of our constitution. (To
be marked in the text)
12. Why should we accept a constitution that was made several years ago?
a. The Constitution of India doesn't reflect the opinion of members of the
Constituent Assembly. It expresses a broad consensus of its time.
b. Another reason why we should accept the Constitution is that the Constituent
Assembly represented the Indian people.
c. The Assembly was dominated by the Indian National Congress (INC). It was the
party that led the Indian freedom struggle. But it itself included people of
different political opinions and groups.
d. In social terms too, the Assembly represented members that belonged to
different castes, occupations, religions and classes.
e. At that time, there was no universal adult franchise. But even it would have
been there, the composition of the Constituent Assembly would have been so
different as it was. What are ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’?

13. What are constituent Assembly Debates

Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent
Assembly has been recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent
Assembly Debates’.

• These debates provide the rationale behind every provision of the

Constitution.
 • These are used to interpret the meaning of the Constitution.
• When printed, these debates constitute 12 bulky volumes .

14. Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic, Justice, liberty, equality

and Fraternity ---- refer text