Indian
Constitution | Parliament | Acts | Rules
& Regulations | Policies | Schemes
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Constitution of India
India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States.
It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic
with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic
is governed in terms of the Constitution of India.
A Constitution Drafting Committee was formed to
draft a Constitution for India. Its Chairman was
Dr. Bhima Rao Ambedkar. This committee prepared
and presented the draft Constitution. It was adopted
by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949
and came into force on 26th January 1950.
The Constitution provides for a
Parliamentary form of government which is federal
in structure with certain unitary features. The
constitutional head of the Executive of the Union
is the President. As per Article 79 of the Constitution
of India, the council of the Parliament of the Union
consists of the President and two Houses known as
the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House
of the People (Lok Sabha). Article 74(1) of the
Constitution provides that there shall be a Council
of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head
to aid and advise the President, who shall exercise
his functions in accordance to the advice. The real
executive power is thus vested in the Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head.
The Council of Ministers is collectively
responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
Every State has a Legislative Assembly. Certain
States have an upper House also called State Legislative
Council. There is a Governor for each state who
is appointed by the President. Governor is the Head
of the State and the executive power of the State
is vested in him. The Council of Ministers with
the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor
in the discharge of the executive functions. The
Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively
responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
The Constitution distributes legislative
powers between Parliament and State legislatures
as per the lists of entries in the Seventh Schedule
to the Constitution. The residuary powers vest in
the Parliament. The centrally administered territories
are called Union Territories.
