Source of Authority in the Indian Constitution

Preamble of the Indian Constitution

• The source of authority for the Constitution comes from the people of India, emphasizing that it is created and agreed upon by the people themselves through their representatives.

Nature of the Indian State

• India is a sovereign state, meaning it has its own independent authority and isn't controlled by any other country.
• India is a socialist state, aiming to reduce economic inequality and ensure fairness for everyone.
• India is a secular state, respecting all religions equally and not favoring any particular one.
• India is a democratic state, where the power to govern comes from the people, who can elect their leaders.
• India is a republic, having an elected head of state (like a president) instead of a monarch.

Objectives of the Constitution

• The main goals of the Constitution are to ensure justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity for all citizens.
• The objective of justice is to ensure fairness and equality for all citizens.
• The objective of liberty is to protect the freedom of individuals to act and express themselves.
• The objective of equality is to guarantee equal rights and opportunities for everyone.
• The objective of fraternity is to promote a sense of brotherhood and unity among all citizens.

Date of Adoption of the Constitution

• The Constitution was officially adopted on November 26th, 1949.

Important Facts about the Preamble

• The idea of having a Preamble in a constitution was borrowed from the United States.
• India's Preamble was inspired by the Objective Resolution, a document drafted by Pandit Nehru and adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
• The Preamble has been amended only once, in 1976, to add the words socialist, secular, and integrity.

Sovereignty

• Sovereignty refers to the supreme power or authority that a state possesses.
• A sovereign state governs itself within its defined territory, has a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into agreements with other nations based on its own interests.
• India is a sovereign state, meaning it is neither a dependency nor a dominion of any other nation.
• As a sovereign state, India has the power to either acquire foreign territory or cede a part of its territory in favor of a foreign state.

Socialism

• Socialism is a societal organization method that primarily deals with the economy.
• The main objective of socialism is to treat all people fairly and distribute wealth more evenly.
• In a socialist economy, the state controls the means of production, aiming to reduce economic inequality and ensure fairness for everyone.