Philosophy of the Constitution class 9 INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

Philosophy of the Constitution

To understand the philosophy of the Indian Constitution, you need to understand the preamble of the constitution. The keywords in the Preamble of the Constitution of India are discussed as follows:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA: This statement means that the constitution was not handed down to us by any king or by any outside power, rather it was drawn and enacted by the people of India through their representatives.
SOVEREIGN: The sovereignty means that India is a free country and no external power can dictate the government of India. It is important to note that the British had proposed a dominion status for India which meant it would have been a country under the British monarchy. The Constituent Assembly rejected that proposal and preferred for full freedom.
SOCIALIST: The socialism which is being followed in India is somewhat different than what was being followed in various communist countries at that time. The Indian socialism was about generation of wealth by the society and sharing of wealth equally by the society. It was decided that the government would regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socioeconomic inequality.
SECULAR: There is no official religion in India and no religion gets special status from the government of India. Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. All religions are treated with equal respect by the government.
DEMOCRATIC: India would adopt a form of government in which people would elect their rulers and hold them accountable. It was also decided that the people would enjoy equal political rights.
REPUBLIC: This term means that the head of the state, i.e. the President of India is an elected person and it is not a hereditary position.
JUSTICE: The land of the law would not discriminate between citizens on the basis of caste, religion and gender. The government would work for the welfare of poor and oppressed so that social inequalities could be reduced.
LIBERTY: Citizens are given the liberty to express their opinions in a way which is found suitable by them. There are no unreasonable restrictions on the liberty of citizens.
EQUALITY: All citizens are equal before the law; irrespective of differences in socio-economic conditions. Every citizen would be provided equal opportunities to improve his/her socioeconomic conditions.
FRATERNITY: Each citizen should respect the spirit of brotherhood and no one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.