1

S
O LEGISLATURE EXECUTIVE JUDICIARY
P RULE MAKING RULE APPLICATION RULE ADJUDICATION
C PARLIAMENT RAJYA SABHA EXEC. : INTRO TYPES OF EXEC.
E JUDICIARY : INTRO
N LOK SABHA PARL. EXEC IN INDIA PREZ V.P TYPES OF JURISDICTION
T
R LAW MAKING PROCESS P.M C.O.M BUREAUCRACY JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
E

S STATE LEGISLATURE GOVERNOR Procedure Established by HIGH COURT

T Law & Due Process of Law &
A CHIEF MINISTER Equality before the law & SUBORDINATE
T Equal protection of the laws COURTS
E

L RURAL LOCAL BODIES : PANCHAYATS MUNICIPAL COMMISIONER NYAYA PANCHAYATS

O
URBAN LOCAL BODIES : ZILA
C
A PANCHAYATS
L

CONSTITUTION: WHY AND HOW GOVERNORS & PREZ RULE PRESSURE COMMISIONS & BODIES
GROUPS
FEDERALISM CENTRE STATE RELATIONS SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF SECULARISM IN INDIA
CENTRE STATE RELATIONS POLITICAL
A STRONG CENTRE PARTIES

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 CONSTITUTION: WHY AND HOW
• The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of
basic rules that allow for minimal coordination
amongst members of a society.

• The second function of a constitution is to specify who

has the power to make decisions in a society.

• The third function of a constitution is to set some limits

on what a government can impose on its citizens by
specifying certain fundamental rights that all of us
possess as citizens.

• The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to fulfil the

aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society. It enables the
government to take positive welfare measures.

• Finally, a constitution expresses the fundamental identity of a people. This means

the people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution.

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• India’s Constitution was formally created by a Constituent Assembly between
December 1946 and November 1949.

• The Constituent Assembly was composed roughly along the lines suggested by
the plan proposed by the committee of the British cabinet, known as the Cabinet
Mission.

• The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949. 284 members were actually
present on 24 January 1950 and appended their signature to the Constitution as
finally passed. The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.

MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL CABINET,

SIGNING THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

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 FEDERALISM
• Federalism is an institutional mechanism
to accommodate two sets of polities -
one at the regional level and the other at
the national level. Each government is
autonomous in its own sphere.

• Certain subjects, which concern the

nation as a whole, for example, defence
or currency, are the responsibility of the
union or central government. Regional or
local matters are the responsibility of the
regional or State government.

• To prevent conflicts between the centre and the State, there is an independent
judiciary to settle disputes.

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 • The most important feature of the Indian federal
system is that relations between the States and
the centre would be based on cooperation.
Thus, while recognising diversity, the
Constitution emphasised unity.

• The Constitution of India does not even mention

the word federation. This is how the
Constitution describes India:
Article 1 : (1) India, that is Bharat, shall be Union
of States.
(2) The States and the territories thereof shall be
as specified in the First Schedule.

• Article 1 describes India as a 'Union of States' which implies two things: one,
Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement by the states; and two, no
state has the right to secede from the federation. Hence, the Indian Constitution
has been variously described as 'federal in form but unitary in spirit'.

• The Constitution clearly demarcates subjects, which are under the exclusive
domain of the Union and those under the States. The States have immense
responsibilities but very meagre revenue sources.

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 PROVISIONS THAT CREATE A STRONG CENTRE
• The Parliament is empowered to ‘form a new
State by separation of territory from any State or
by uniting two or more States…’. It can also alter
the boundary of any State or even its name.

• During an emergency, power becomes lawfully

centralised. Parliament also assumes the power
to make laws on subjects within the jurisdiction
of the States.

• Even during normal circumstances, the central government has very effective
financial powers and responsibilities. The Union government uses its discretion to
give grants and loans to States.

• The Governor has certain powers to recommend dismissal of the State

government and the dissolution of the Assembly.

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 • “Article 257 (1): The executive power of every
State shall be so exercised as not to impede
or prejudice the exercise of the executive
power of the Union, and the executive power
of the Union shall extend to the giving of
such directions to a State as may appear to
the Government of India to be necessary for
that purpose.”

• The all-India services are common to the entire territory of India and officers
chosen for these services serve in the administration of the States. They are
under the control of the central government. States can neither take
disciplinary action nor can they remove these officers from service.

• Articles 33 and 34 authorise the Parliament to protect persons in the service of

the union or a state in respect of any action taken by them during martial law
to maintain or restore order.

• From time to time, States have demanded that they should be given more
powers and more autonomy. While the legal disputes between the centre and
the States (or between States) can be resolved by the judiciary, demands for
autonomy are of political nature and need to be resolved through negotiations.
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 CENTRE-STATE RELATIONS
• The 1950s and early 1960s was a period
of Congress dominance over the centre
as well as the States. Except on the issue
of formation of new States, the relations
between the centre and the States
remained quite normal during this
period.

• In the middle of the 1960s Congress dominance declined somewhat and in a

large number of States opposition parties came to power. It resulted in
demands for greater powers and greater autonomy to the States.

• Finally, since the 1990s, Congress dominance has largely ended and we have
entered an era of coalition politics especially at the centre. In the States too,
different parties, both national and regional, have come to power. This has
resulted in a greater say for the States, a respect for diversity and the beginning
of a more mature federalism.

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 ROLE OF GOVERNORS AND PRESIDENT’S RULE
• The role of Governors has always been a
controversial issue between the States and the
central government. The Governor is not an elected
office-holder.

• The Governor is appointed by the central

government and therefore, actions of the Governor
are often viewed as interference by the Central
government in the functioning of the State
government. When two different parties are in
power at the centre and the State, the role of the
Governor becomes even more controversial.

• The Sarkaria Commission that was appointed by the central government (1983; it
submitted its report in 1988) to examine the issues relating to centre-State
relations, recommended that appointments of Governors should be strictly non-
partisan.

• The Governor has the power to recommend the dismissal of the State
government and suspension or dissolution of State assembly.
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 SPECIAL PROVISIONS
• The most extra-ordinary feature of the
federal arrangement created in India is
that many States get a differential
treatment. The size and population of
each State being different, an
asymmetrical representation is provided in
the Rajya Sabha.

• The Constitution has some special provisions for some States given their peculiar
social and historical circumstances. Most of the special provisions pertain to the
north eastern States (Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.) largely
due to their sizeable indigenous tribal population with a distinct history and
culture.

• At present, the special status given under 370 no longer exists. By the Jammu and
Kashmir reorganisation Act 2019, the State has been bifurcated into two Union
Territories viz., (i) Jammu and Kashmir and (ii) Ladakh. The new arrangement has
come into effect from 31 October, 2019.

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 EXECUTIVE
• Executive is the branch of government
responsible for the implementation of laws
and policies adopted by the legislature.

• Some countries have presidents, while

others have chancellors.

• The executive branch also extends to the administrative machinery (civil servants).

• While the heads of government and their ministers, saddled with the overall
responsibility of government policy, are together known as the political executive,
those responsible for day to day administration are called the permanent executive.

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 TYPES OF EXECUTIVE
• The USA has a presidential system and executive powers are
in the hands of the president.
• Canada has a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional
monarchy where Queen Elizabeth II is the formal chief of
state and the prime minister is the head of government.
• In France, both the president and the prime minister are a
part of the semi presidential system. The president appoints
the prime minister as well as the ministers but cannot dismiss
them as they are responsible to the parliament.
• Japan has a parliamentary system with the Emperor as the head of the state and the
prime minister as the head of government.
• Italy has a parliamentary system with the president as the formal head of state and
the prime minister as the head of government.
• Russia has a semi-presidential system where president is the head of state and prime
minister, who is appointed by the president, is the head of government.
• Germany has a parliamentary system in which president is the ceremonial head of
state and the chancellor is the head of government.

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• In a presidential system, the president is the Head of state as well as head of
government. Countries with such a system include the United States, Brazil
and most nations in Latin America.

• In a parliamentary system, the prime minister is the head of government.

Most parliamentary systems have a president or a monarch who is the
nominal Head of state. In such a system, the role of president or monarch is
primarily ceremonial and prime minister along with the cabinet wields
effective power. Countries with such system include Germany, Italy, Japan,
United Kingdom as well as Portugal.

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 PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTIVE IN INDIA
• The Constitution adopted the parliamentary system of
executive for the governments both at the national and
State levels.

• President is the formal Head of the state of India and the

Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers run the
government at the national level. At the State level, the
executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister
and Council of Ministers.

• The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union formally in the
President. In reality, the President exercises these powers through the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

• To ensure that the executive will be answerable to and controlled by the legislature or
people’s representatives, the Constitution adopted the parliamentary system of
executive for the governments both at the national and State levels.

• According to this system, there is a President who is the formal Head of the state of
India and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, which run the government at
the national level. At the State level, the executive comprises the Governor and the
Chief Minister and Council of Ministers.
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 PRESIDENT OF INDIA
• The President is elected indirectly. This means that the president
is elected not by the ordinary citizens but by the elected MLAs
and MPs. This election takes place in accordance with the
principle of proportional representation with single transferable
vote.

• The President can be removed from office only by Parliament by following the
procedure for impeachment. This procedure requires a special majority. The only
ground for impeachment is violation of the Constitution.

• The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union formally in the
President. In reality, the President exercises these powers through the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

• President is the formal head of the government. In this formal sense, the President
has wide ranging executive, legislative, judicial and emergency powers. In a
parliamentary system, these powers are in reality used by the President only on the
advice of the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
have support of the majority in the Lok Sabha and they are the real executive.

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 DISCRETIONARY POWERS OF PRESIDENT
1. The President can send back the advice given by the Council of Ministers and ask
the Council to reconsider the decision.

2. The President also has veto power by which he can withhold or refuse to give
assent to Bills (other than Money Bill) passed by the Parliament.

3. When after an election, no leader has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha or when
after attempts to forge alliances, two or three leaders are claiming that they
have the support of the majority in the house, the President has to decide whom
to appoint as the Prime Minister.

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 THE VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
• The Vice President’s election method is similar to that of
the President, the only difference is that members of
State legislatures are not part of the electoral college.

• The Vice President may be removed from his office by a

resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority and
agreed to by the Lok Sabha.

• The Vice President acts as the ex- officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and takes
over the office of the President when there is a vacancy by reasons of death,
resignation, removal by impeachment or otherwise.

• The Vice President acts as the President only until a new President is elected.
B.D. Jatti acted as President on the death of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed until a new
President was elected.

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 PRIME MINISTER
• The President exercises his powers only on the advice of
the Council of Ministers.

• In the parliamentary form of executive, it is essential

that the Prime Minister has the support of the majority
in the Lok Sabha. Formally, a leader who has the support
of the majority is appointed by the President as Prime
Minister.

• The Prime Minister then decides who will be the ministers in the Council of
Ministers. The Prime Minister allocates ranks and portfolios to the ministers.

• The Prime Minister and all the ministers have to be members of the Parliament.
If someone becomes a minister or Prime Minister without being an MP, such a
person has to get elected to the Parliament within six months.

• The death or resignation of the Prime Minister automatically brings about the
dissolution of the Council of Ministers but the demise, dismissal or resignation of
a minister only creates a ministerial vacancy.

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 COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
• Council of Ministers is the official name
for the body that includes all the
Ministers. It usually has 60 to 80
Ministers of different ranks.

• Cabinet Ministers are usually top-level leaders of the ruling party or parties who
are in charge of the major ministries. Usually the Cabinet Ministers meet to take
decisions in the name of the Council of Ministers.

• Ministers of State with independent charge are usually in-charge of smaller

Ministries. They participate in the Cabinet meetings only when specially invited.

• Ministers of State are attached to and required to assist Cabinet Ministers.

• The 91st Amendment Act (2003) provided that the Council of Ministers shall not
exceed 15 percent of total number of members of the House of the People (or
Assembly, in the case of the States).

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 PERMANENT EXECUTIVE: BUREAUCRACY
• The Executive organ of the government
includes the Prime Minister, the ministers
and a large organisation called the
bureaucracy or the administrative
machinery.

• To underline the difference between this

machinery and the military service, it is
described as civil service.

• Every ministry has secretaries, who are civil servants. The secretaries provide the
necessary background information to the ministers to take decisions. The Cabinet
as a team is assisted by the Cabinet Secretariat.

• The Indian bureaucracy consists of the All-India services, State services,

employees of the local governments, and technical and managerial staff running
public sector undertakings.

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 PARLIAMENT
• Law making is the centre of all
democratic political process. It is packed
with action; walkouts, protests,
demonstration, unanimity, concern and
co-operation.

• The two Houses of the Indian Parliament are the Council of States or the Rajya
Sabha and the House of the People or the Lok Sabha. The Constitution has
given the States the option of establishing either a unicameral or bicameral
legislature.

• At present only six States have a bicameral legislature namely Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka & Maharashtra.

• The judicial functions of the Parliament include considering the proposals for
removal of President, Vice-President and Judges of High Courts and Supreme
Court.

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 RAJYA SABHA
• The Rajya Sabha represents the States of
India. The elected members of State
Legislative Assembly in turn elect the
members of the Rajya Sabha.

• Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for

a term of six years. Every two years, one
third members of the Rajya Sabha complete
their term and elections are held for those
one third seats only.

• Rajya Sabha considers and approves non money bills and suggests amendments to
money bills, approves constitutional amendments. Any matter that affects the
States must be referred to it for its consent and approval.

• If the Union Parliament wishes to remove a matter from the State list to either the
Union List or Concurrent List in the interest of the nation, the approval of the Rajya
Sabha is necessary.

• The Rajya Sabha cannot initiate, reject or amend money bills.

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 LOK SABHA
• For the purpose of election, the entire
country (State, in case of State Legislative
Assembly) is divided into territorial
constituencies of roughly equal population.

• At present there are 543 constituencies. This

number has not changed since 1971 census.

• Before the completion of five years, the Lok Sabha can be dissolved if no party or
coalition can form the government or if the Prime Minister advises the President
to dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold fresh elections.

• Lok Sabha makes laws on matters included in Union List and Concurrent List, can
introduce and enact money and non money bills, approves proposals for taxation,
budgets and annual financial statements, controls the executive by asking
questions, supplementary questions, resolutions and motions and through no
confidence motion, amends the Constitution, approves the Proclamation of
emergency, elects the President and Vice President and removes Judges of
Supreme Court and High Court.
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 PARLIAMENT MAKE LAWS
• When a non-minister proposes a bill, it is called
private member’s Bill. A bill proposed by a
minister is described as Government Bill.

• A money bill can be introduced only in Lok

Sabha.

• A large part of the discussion on the bills takes place in the committees. The
recommendation of the committee is then sent to the House. That is why committees
are referred to as miniature legislatures. This is the second stage in the law making
process.

• In the third and final stage, the bill is voted upon. If a non-money bill is passed by one
House, it is sent to the other House where it goes through exactly the same
procedure.

• If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or suggest changes but
cannot reject it. If it takes no action within 14 days the bill is deemed to have been
passed. Amendments to the bill, suggested by Rajya Sabha, may or may not be
accepted by the Lok Sabha.
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 • No action can be taken against a member for
whatever the member may have said in the
legislature. This is known as parliamentary
privilege.

• The Question Hour, which is held every day during

the sessions of Parliament, where Ministers have
to respond to searching questions raised by the
members

• Zero Hour where members are free to raise any

matter that they think is important (though the
ministers are not bound to reply)

• Half-an-hour discussion on matters of public

importance, adjournment motion, etc., are some
instruments of exercising control

• Parliamentary committees perform functions such as studying the demands for

grants made by various ministries, looking into expenditure incurred by various
departments, investigating cases of corruption etc.

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• Since 1983, India has developed a system of parliamentary standing committees.
Standing Committees supervise the work of various departments, their budget,
their expenditure and bills that come up in the house relating to the department.

• Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs) can be set up for the purpose of discussing
a particular bill, like the joint committee to discuss bill, or for the purpose of
investigating financial irregularities.

• There was an agreement made among the

parties that a legislator who is elected on one
party’s ticket must be restricted from ‘defecting’
to another party & an amendment to the
Constitution was made (52nd amendment act)
in 1985. This is known as anti-defection
amendment.

• The presiding officer of the House is the authority who takes final decisions on all
such cases.

• If a member remains absent in the House when asked by the party leadership to
remain present or votes against the instructions of the party or voluntarily leaves
the membership of the party, it is deemed as defection.

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 JUDICIARY
• Judiciary safeguards rights of the individual,
settles disputes in accordance with the law
and ensures that democracy does not give
way to individual or group dictatorship.

• Judiciary is accountable to the Constitution,

to the democratic traditions and to the
people of the country.

• In order to be appointed as a judge, a person must have experience as a lawyer

and/or must be well versed in law.

• Salaries and allowances of the judges are not subjected to the approval of the
legislature.

• Parliament cannot discuss the conduct of the judges except when the proceeding to
remove a judge is being carried out.

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 • The senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is
appointed as the Chief Justice of India.

• Chief Justice should recommend names of

persons to be appointed in consultation with
four senior-most judges of the Court.

• A judge of the Supreme Court or High Court can

be removed only on the ground of proven
misbehaviour or incapacity. A motion containing
the charges against the judge must be approved
by special majority in both Houses of the
Parliament.
NV RAMANA
Chief Justice of India

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 SUPREME COURT JURISDICTION

• The Supreme Court has specific jurisdiction

or scope of powers.

• Original Jurisdiction: Cases that can be

directly considered by the Supreme Court
without going to the lower courts before
that. The Court also interprets the powers of
Union and State government as laid down in
the Constitution.

• Writ Jurisdiction: Court can give special

orders in the form of writs.

• Appellate Jurisdiction: The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal. However,
High Court must certify that the case is fit for appeal, that is to say that it involves a
serious matter of interpretation of law or Constitution.

• Advisory Jurisdiction: President of India can refer any matter that is of public
importance or that which involves interpretation of Constitution to Supreme Court
for advice. However, the Supreme Court is not bound to give advice on such
matters and the President is not bound to accept such an advice.
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 JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
• The chief instrument through which judicial
activism has flourished in India is Public
Interest Litigation (PIL) or Social Action
Litigation (SAL). In 1979, the Court set the
trend.

• Judicial activism has blurred the line of

distinction between the executive and
legislature on the one hand and the judiciary
on the other.

• In 1979, newspapers published reports about ‘under trials’, prompting a petition. The
Supreme Court heard this Hussainara Khatoon vs. Bihar case.

• Case narrating physical torture of the prisoners, known as Sunil Batra vs. Delhi
Administration (1980) also became one of the pioneers of public interest litigation.

• In Kesavananda Bharati case, the Court ruled that there is a basic structure of the
Constitution and nobody, not even the Parliament (through amendment) can violate
the basic structure.

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 Procedure Established by Law & Due Process of Law
• Procedure Established by Law means that
a law that is duly enacted by the
legislature or the concerned body is valid if
it has followed the correct procedure.
Following this doctrine means that, a
person can be deprived of his life or
personal liberty according to the
procedure established by law.

Due process of law doctrine not only checks if there is a law to deprive the life
and personal liberty of a person but also see if the law made is fair, just and not
arbitrary. If SC finds that any law as not fair, it will declare it as null and void.
This doctrine provides for more fair treatment of individual rights.

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 Equality before the law & Equal protection of the laws

• Equality before the law is a declaration of

equality of all persons within the territory
of India, implying thereby the absence of
any special privilege in favour of any
individual. [ii] Article 14 of the constitution
is both a negative and positive right.
Negative in the sense that no one can be
discriminated against anybody and
everyone should be treated as equals.

Equal protection of the laws means that amongst equals the law should be equal
and should be equally administered and the likes should be treated alike. Thus,
what it forbids is discrimination between persons who are substantially in similar
circumstances or conditions. It does not forbid different treatment for unequals.

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 GOVERNOR
• At the State level, the executive comprises the
Governor and the Chief Minister and Council
of Ministers.

• Though the Chief Minister, like the Prime

Minister is the leader of the majority party in
the Assembly, the Governor has more
discretionary powers. However, the main
principles of parliamentary system operate at
the State level too.

• The Governor has certain powers to recommend dismissal of the State

government and the dissolution of the Assembly. Besides, even in normal
circumstances, the Governor has the power to reserve a bill passed by the State
legislature, for the assent of the President. This gives the central government an
opportunity to delay the State legislation and also to examine such bills and veto
them completely.

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 STATE LEGISLATURE
• At the state level, the legislature is
composed of the Legislative Assembly,
the Legislative Council (only in 6 states
currently), and the Governor of the
State.

• Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF KARNATAKA
the popularly elected chamber and is
the real Centre of power in a State.
Duration of the Legislative Assembly is
five years. The Governor has the
power to dissolve the Assembly even
before the expiry of its term.

• The Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) of a State is a a partly nominated

and partly elected body, the election being an indirect one and in accordance
with the principle of proportional representation by the single transferable
vote. Unlike the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council is not subject to
dissolution.

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 CHIEF MINISTER AND COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
• Similar to Prime Minister who is the head of
the government at the Centre, the Chief
Minister is the head of the government at the
state level.

• While the governor is the nominal executive

of the state government, chief minister is the
real executive of the government.
ARVIND KEJRIWAL, CM OF DELHI

• Governor appoints Chief Minister. A leader of the party that has got the majority
share of votes in the assembly elections, is appointed as the Chief Minister of the
state.

• The Chief Minister is the head of state council of ministers. He recommends to the
governor on who to appoint as ministers. He designates or reshuffles the portfolios
of the ministers. He can ask a minister to resign.

• Meeting of the council of ministers is headed by him. All activities of the ministers
are guided and controlled by the Chief Minister. If he resigns, the entire council of
ministers collapses.

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 HIGH COURT & SUBORDINATE COURTS

• The High Courts are the highest courts

at State level, but being part of
integrated Indian judiciary they work
under the superintendence, direction
and control of the Supreme Court.
There is a High Court for each State.
However, there can be a common High
Court for two or more States. The
judges of the High Courts are appointed
by the President of India.

• In each district of India there are various types of subordinate or lower courts.
They are civil courts, criminal courts and revenue courts. These Courts hear
civil cases, criminal cases and revenue cases, respectively. The judges of
subordinate courts are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the
Chief Justice of the High Court of the concerned State.

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 MUNICIPAL COMMISIONER

• Municipality is a generic name for any

organized local government, usually in an
urban area- town, city etc. Nagar
Panchayat in rural-urban transition areas,
Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas
and Municipal Corporations for larger
urban areas.

B.M.C IS THE RICHEST MUNICIPAL • Head of the municipal corporation, the

CORPORATION IN INDIA.
Mayor, functions merely as a ceremonial
authority. The Municipal Commissioner is
the chief Executive Officer and head of the
executive wing of the Municipal
Corporation. Commissioner is responsible
for execution of the policies legislated by
Municipal Corporation and is appointed by
the State Government.

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 NYAYA PANCHAYATS

• Gram Nyayalayas or village courts are

established under the Gram
Nyayalayas Act, 2008 for speedy and
easy access to justice system in the
rural areas of India.

• The Gram Nyayalayas are presided

over by a Nyayadhikari who are to be
appointed by the State Government in
consultation with the respective High
Court.

• They have both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the offences.

• The Court can function as a mobile court at any place within the jurisdiction
of such Gram Nyayalaya.

• It is estimated that Gram Nyayalayas can reduce around 50% of the

pendency of cases in subordinate courts

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 RURAL LOCAL BODIES
• Local government is government at the
village and district level.

• Elected local government bodies were

created after 1882. Lord Rippon, who was
the Viceroy of India at that time, took the
initiative in creating these bodies. They
were called the local boards.

• Following the Government of India Act

1919, village panchayats were established
in a number of provinces. This trend
A PANCHAYAT IN PROGRESS. continued after the Government of India
Act of 1935.

• Community Development Programme in 1952, which sought to promote

people’s participation in local development in a range of activities inspired a
three-tier Panchayati Raj system of local government was recommended for
the rural areas

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 • In 1989 the P.K. Thungon Committee
recommended constitutional recognition for
the local government bodies.

• The 73rd Amendment is about rural local

governments (which are also known as
Panchayati Raj Institutions or PRIs) and the
74th amendment made the provisions
A PANCHAYAT relating to urban local government
(Nagarpalikas). The 73rd and 74th
Amendments came into force in 1993.

• All States now have a uniform three tier Panchayati Raj structure. At the base is
the ‘Gram Panchayat‘. A Gram Panchayat covers a village or group of villages.

• The intermediary level is the Mandal (also referred to as Block or Taluka). These
bodies are called Mandal or Taluka Panchayats.

• The intermediary level body need not be constituted in smaller States. At the apex
is the Zilla Panchayat covering the entire rural area of the District.

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 URBAN LOCAL BODIES

• The 74th amendment dealt with urban

local bodies or Nagarpalikas.

• The Census of India defines an urban

area as having: (i) a minimum population
of 5,000; (ii) at least 75 per cent of male
working population engaged in non-
agricultural occupations and (iii) a
density of population of at least 400
persons per sq. km.

• As per the 2011 Census, about 31% of India’s population lives in urban areas

• While rural local bodies raise 0.24% of the total revenues collected, they
account for 4% of the total expenditure made by the government.

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• Today there are more than 600 Zilla
Panchayats, about 6,000 block or
intermediary Panchayats, and 2,40,000
Gram Panchayats in rural India and over
100 city Corporations, 1400 town
Municipalities and over 2000 Nagar
Panchayats in urban India. More than 32
lakh members are elected to these
bodies every five years. In the State
Assemblies and Parliament put together
we have less than 5000 elected
representatives..

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 POLITICAL PARTIES & PRESSURE GROUPS

• There are many indirect ways in which

people can get governments to listen to
their demands or their points of view.
They could do so by forming an
organisation and undertaking activities to
promote their interests or their
viewpoints.

• These are called interest groups or pressure groups. Pressure groups are
organisations that attempt to influence government policies. But unlike political
parties, pressure groups do not aim to directly control or share political power.

• These organisations are formed when people with common occupation,

interest, aspirations or opinions come together in order to achieve a common
objective.

• There are also promotional groups or public interest groups. They promote
collective rather than selective good. For example, a group fighting against
bonded labour fights not for itself but for those who are suffering under such
bondage.
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 POLITICAL PARTIES
• A political party is a group of people who
come together to contest elections and
hold power in the government. They agree
on some policies and programmes for the
society with a view to promote the
collective good.

• More than 750 parties are registered with

the Election Commission of India.
• The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of two-party
system while in India we have a multiparty system.
• Democracies that follow a federal system all over the world tend to have two
kinds of political parties: ‘state parties’ and ‘national parties’. National parties are
‘recognised’ by the Election Commission and given some special facilities

• The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion of votes
and seats that a party must get in order to be a recognised party or state party.

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• According to this classification, there were eight recognised national parties in
the country in 2019. These are :
1. All India Trinamool Congress
2. Bahujan Samaj Party
3. Bharatiya Janata Party
4. Communist Party of India
5. Communist Party of India - Marxist
6. Indian National Congress
7. Nationalist Congress Party
8. National People’s Party

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 COMMISSIONS AND BODIES
• National Commission for Women (NCW) was
formed in 1992 to protect and promote the
interests of women in India.

• National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

was established in 1993 to protect and
promote human rights

• Central Information Commission (CIC) was formed in 2005 to receive and inquire
into complaints from aggrieved persons.

• Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) was formed in 1964 to address and probe
offences by Central Government officers, officers of societies, corporation, and local
authority under the Central Government.

• National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was formed in 1993 to consider
inclusions in and exclusions from the lists of communities notified as backward for
job reservations and tenders needful advice to the Central Government on such
matters
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• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was formed in 2004 to
protect and develop the condition of STs in India.

• Finance Commission (FCI) was formed in 1951 to define the financial relations
between the centre and the states.

• Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) was formed in 1966 to give

recommendations regarding the public administration system of India

• Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) was formed in 1926 to conduct

examinations for appointment to the services of the Union, direct recruitment by
selection through interviews and appointment of officers on promotion/deputation/
absorption and more.

• Delimitation Commission of India was formed in 1951 to redraw the boundaries of

the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on a recent census.

• National Commission for Minorities was formed in 1992 to evaluate, monitor and
recommendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for the protection
of the interests of Minorities in India.

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 SECULARISM IN INDIA
• Secularism means separation of religion
from political, economic, social and
cultural aspects of life, religion being
treated as a matter of personal belief. It is
about dissociation of the state from
religion and full freedom to all religions
and tolerance of all religions.

• It also stands for equal opportunities for

followers of all religions, and no
discrimination and partiality on grounds of
religion.

A DISTINCTION
• The term ‘secularism’ is akin to the Vedic concept of ‘Dharma nirapekshata’ i.e.
the indifference of state to religion. This model of secularism is adopted by
western societies where the government is totally separate from religion (i.e.
separation of church and state).

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• Indian philosophy of secularism is related to “Sarva Dharma Sambhava” (literally it
means that destination of the paths followed by all religions is the same, though the
paths themselves may be different) which means equal respect to all religions.

SECULARISM AND THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

• The term ‘Secular’ was added to the preamble
by the forty-second constitution Amendment
Act of 1976, (India is a sovereign, socialist,
secular, democratic, republic).

• It emphasise the fact that constitutionally, India is a secular country which has no
State religion. And that the state shall recognise and accept all religions, not favour or
patronize any particular religion.

• Indian secularism is not an end in itself but a means to address religious plurality and
sought to achieve peaceful coexistence of different religions.

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 SEPERATION OF POWERS BY MONTESQUIEU
• Montesquieu, a great advocate of human
dignity, developed the theory of
separation of powers as a weapon to
uphold the liberty of the people.

• Montesquieu’ view is that concentration

of legislative, executive and judicial
functions either in one single person or a
body of persons results in abuse of
authority and such an organization
becomes tyrannical.

• He argued that the three organs of government should be so organized that each
should be entrusted to different persons and each should perform distinct
functions within the sphere of power assigned to it.

• This guarantee of the liberty of people and promotes efficiency in the

administration. It is useful if used judiciously to bring about a balance between
the vigorous action of the welfare state and the enjoyment of the liberty of the
people.

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