(a) A detailed written Constitution :
(b) A Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic :
(i) Sovereign :
* India is free from external control. internally, India can frame or form its own policies.
(ii) Democratic :
* It means that in India, the partical power is vested in the people and is exercised by representatives who are elected by them. Every citizen of India who is 18 years of age of whichever cast or religion enjoys all the political rights.
(iii) Republic :
* It means that the head of the State, i.e., the President is elected by the people.
* The President is not a hereditary ruler like the British monarch
(iv) Socialist :
* It was added in the preamble by 42nd amendment of the constitution. It means that administration in India should be run in such a way as to ensure equal distribution of wealth among all the classes of people and there should be equal opportunities for development.
(v) Secular :
* It was also added in the preamble by 42nd amendment of the constitution. Which was passed in 1976.
* It means every citizen has a right to profess, practice and propogate any religion. There can be no discrimination among citizens on the basis of the religion.
(d) Federal Features :
* In a fedral government, there are two sets of governments. The union(as we call in India) government and the state governments. The constitution specifies to both the sets of governments clearly marked the areas of functioning.
* The Constitution of India does not use the term'Federal'. It says India is a 'Union of States'.
* The Constitution clearly mentions the subjects on which the central and the state governments can pass laws. This is called divison of power between the centre and the state governments.
(i) Union List :
* Subjects of national importance like defence, foreign affairs, atomic energy, banking, post and telegaraph are included in the Union List.
* The Central Government can pass laws on the subjects mentioned in the Union List.
* The Union List has 97 subjects.
(ii) The State List :
* Comprises those imporatant subjects on which the state government can pass laws.
* Subjects like police, local government, trade and commerce within the state, agriculture are included in the State List.
* The State list has 66 subjects
(iii) The concurrent List :
* Subjects which are of common concern both to the centre and the state governments.
* Ordinarily both the central and the state governments can frame laws on these subjects. However, if there, is a conflict between the central law and the state law, over a subject in the Concurrent List the central law would be effective.
* This list includes subjects like criminal and civil procedure, marriage and divorce, education, economic planning, trade unions.
* The Concurrent List has 47 subjects.
(iv) Residuary Powers :
* Matters which are not included in the division of powers, are known as residuary powers.
* The central government has been given the power to legislate on these ‘residuary’ subjects.
(e) Language Policy:
* Our Constituion did not give the status of a national language to any one language .
* Hindi was indentified as the official language. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
* States too have their own official languages. Much of the government work takes place in the official language of the concerned State.
(f) Parliamentary System:
* India has a parliamentary form of government. In a parliamentary system, the Parliament is supreme and represents the people. The legislature in the centre is called the Parliament or the Sansad. The Parliament is bicameral which means it has two houses. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
* Though the governemt is carried on in the name of the President at the centre and the Governor in the states, actual administration is carried on by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister in the centre and Chief Minister in the states.
* The Council of Ministers is responsible to the legislature which comprises the representatives of the people. This makes the legislature or the Parliament supreme.
(g) A Welfare State:
* The Constitution spells out the establishment of a welfare state. A welfare state is the state which performs functions aimed at the welfare of the people.
* Such a state regards subjects like education, public health or agriculture as important as looking after the defence or the foreign affairs of the country.
(h) Emergency Provisions:
* Emergency provisions are yet another very important feature of the Indian Constitution. There are times when the country could not be run as in ordinary times. To cope with such difficult times, the Constitution provides for the emergency provisions.
(i) Independent and Impartial Judiciary:
* The Constitution has provided for the establishment of an independent and impartial judiciary.
* The Constitution has laid down that dispute between centre and the state on constitutional matters will be decided by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the apex court in our judiciary.
Citizenship
The Indian Constitution, though federal, provides for single citizenship, namely, the citizenship of India. There is no separate citizenship of a particular State from which a person may come. All citizens enjoy the same rights all over the country.
(a) Constitutional and Statutory Basis :
* The Constitution simply described the classes of persons who would be deemed to be citizens of India at the date of commencement of the Constitution and left the law of citizenship to be regulated by law made by Parliament.
* The Citizenship Act of 1955 was enacted, providing elaborate provisions for acquisition and termination of citizenship subsequent to the commencement of the Constitution. The Constitution entiled the following categories of persons to citizenship:
(A) Persons born and domiciled in the territory of India. Domiciled persons include those with permament homes in India, persons born in India whose father or mother was born in Indian territory, and persons ordinarily residing in India for at least five years before the commencement of the Constitution.
(B) Persons who had migrated to India from Pakistan.
(C) Indians living in foreign countries at the date of commencement of the Constitution.
(b) Acquisition of Citizenship:
* The various modes of acquisition of citizenship are prescribed by the Citizenship Act, 1955.
(i) By Birth:
* A person born in India on or after 26th January, 1950 but before 1st July, 1987 is a citizen of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his parents.
* A person born in India on or after 1st July, 1987, is considered as a citizen of India only if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his b`th.
* Further, those born in India on or after 7th January 2004 are considered citizens of India only if both of their parents are citizens of India or one of whose parents is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of their birth.
(ii) By descent:
* A person born outside Indian on or after January 26, 1950 shall be a citizen of India if either of his / her parents is a citizen of India at the time of the person’s birth.
(c) Significance of Citizenship:
* Citizens enjoys full civil and political rights.
* A citizen enjoys all the Fundamental Rights.
* A citizen only can vote in elections to Parliament and State legislatures and can contest for membership of these bodies.
* A citizen alone is eligible for appointment to certain public offices.