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Constitutonal Design
Explain the working of Constituent Assembly of India.
The Constituent Assembly:
(i)The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner.
(ii)First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon. Then a Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar prepared a draft constitution for discussion.
(iii)Several rounds of thorough discussion took place on the Draft Constitution, clause by clause. More than two thousand amendments were considered.
(iv)The members deliberated for 114 days spread over three years. Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’.
(v)When printed, these debates are 12 bulky volumes! These debates provide the rationale behind every provision of the Constitution. These are used to interpret the meaning of the Constitution.
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Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:
Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?
Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:
What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?
Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:
“The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?
Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning. Rewrite them by matching them correctly.
A friend from Nepal has written you a letter describing the political situation there. Many political parties are opposing the rule of the king. Some of them say that the existing constitution given by the monarch can be amended to allow more powers to elected representatives. Others are demanding a new Constituent Assembly to write a republican constitution. Reply to your friend giving your opinions on the subject.
Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors ?
Democracy in the India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.
Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?
Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.
Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?
We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.
Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection - of father, husband and son - all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution ? Or does this go against the constitutional values?
Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.
The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.
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