298The State Executive & the state legislature

State Executive consists ofGovernor and Council of Min-isters with Chief Minister as itshead.

Governor of the State Governor is the Constitutional

head of the state. Governors exist in the States

while Lieutenant-Governorsexist in Union Territories andin the National Capital Terri-tory of Delhi.

All the state Governments ex-cept Jammu and Kashmir haveuniform structure.

Governor is appointed by thePresident and not elected be-cause it helps to provide astrong centre and to avoid fric-tion between two elected indi-viduals ie. Chief Minister andGovernor.

Governor is the Chief executivehead of the state. He is a nomi-nal or titular head. He acts asthe agent of Central Govern-ment. Therefore, the office ofgovernor has the dual role.

7th Constitutional AmendmentAct 1956 facilitated the ap-pointment of the same personas the governor for two or morestates. The emoluments and al-lowances payable to him areshared by the states in such aproportion as determined bythe President.

Governor is appointed for fiveyears.

Governor nominates onemember of the Anglo-Indian community to the Leg-islative Assembly of his state.

During his term of office, he is

immune from any criminal pro-ceedings, even in respect of hispersonal acts. He cannot bearrested or imprisoned. How-ever after giving two monthsnotice, civil proceedings canbe instituted.

Oath of Office of governor isadministered by the Chief jus-tice of the concerned state highcourt and in his absence, thesenior most judge of that courtavailable.

Governor has no power to par-don death sentence.

Every State Legislature has aSpeaker and a Deputy Speaker.

Indian Constitution does notprovide any procedure to re-move Governor.

Article 164 says Governor hasto appoint the leader of themajority party in the state leg-islative assembly as the ChiefMinister.

The Governor also appointsthe other members of the Coun-cil of Ministers and distributesportfolios to them on the ad-vice of the Chief Minister.

Governor appoints the Advo-cate General and the chairmanand members of the State Pub-lic Service Commission.

The President consults theGovernor in the appointmentof judges of the High Courtsand the Governor appoints thejudges of the District Courts.

A bill that the state legislaturehas passed, can become a lawonly after the Governor givesassent.

The Governor can return a billto the state legislature, if it is

not a money bill, for reconsid-eration.

However, if the state legislaturesends it back to the Governorfor the second time, the Gov-ernor must assent to it. TheGovernor has the power to re-serve certain bills for the Presi-dent.

The term of Governor's officeis normally 5 years but it canbe terminated earlier by1. Dismissal by the Presidenton the advice of the Prime Min-ister of the country, at whosepleasure the Governor holdsoffice. 2. Resignation by thegovernorThere is no provision of im-peachment, as it happens forthe President.

Under Article 361, a Governoris not answerable to any courtfor the performance of thepower and duties of his office.

A Governor possessesExecutive, Legislative,Financial and Judicial powersanalogous to the President ofIndia.

Governor has the right ofsummoning or proroguing theState Legislature and dis-solving the State LegislativeAssembly.

H e can address the State Legi-slature at the commencementof the first session after eachgeneral election and the firstsession of each year.

Money Bill can be introducedin the State Legislature onlywith the prior recommendationof the Governor.

299The Chief Minister

The Chief Minister is the real executive and is the head of the Government of a State. The position of the Chief Minister at the State level is analogous to the position of the Prime Minister at the Centre.

He can any time recommend the Governor for the dis-solution of the State Legisla-tive Assembly. The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor. Other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. He announces the Govern ment policies on the floor of the House. Normally the leader of the majority party in the Vidhan Sabha is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor. The Governor shall administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers. The salaries and allowances of the Ministers shall be determined by the State Legislature. A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he

should be elected to the state legislature. Chief Minister is the chairman of the state Planning Board and the crisis manager in chief at the political level during emergen-

cies.

300The State Legislature The Legislature of every State

consists of the Governor andone or two Houses.

In Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka, Maharashtra, UttarPradesh and Andhra Pradesh,there are two Houses knownas Legislative Council andLegislative Assembly.

The Legislative Council(Vidhan Parishad)

As per the Constitution, thenumber of members of theLegislative Council is not toexceed one-third of the totalstrength of the State Assembly.However, its strength shouldnot be less than 40 either.

The members of the LegislativeCouncil are derived fromvarious sections and stream ofthe society.a. Not less than one-third tobe elected by the Panchayats,Municipalities, Distr ictBoards,etc.b. Not less than one-third tobe elected by the LegislativeAssembly.c. Not less than one-twelfthto be elected by the graduatesof three years standingresiding in the State.d. Not less than one-twelfthto be elected by the personshaving teaching experience ofthree years in educationalinstitutions.e. The remainder one-sixth tobe nominated by the Governorfrom among the distinguishedpersons of the society in thefield of literature, science, arts,cooperative movement andsocial service.

Just like the Upper House atthe Centre, the LegislativeCouncil of a State is neverdissolved. The members areelected for a term of 6 yearsand 1/3rd of its members retireevery two years.

Creation and Abolition ofLegislative Council The Parliament, under Art. 169,

is empowered to create orabolish the Legislative Councilin a State.

Where the Legislative Councilis to be created or abolished,the concerned StateLegislative Assembly shouldpass a resolution to this effectby a majority of not less than2/3rd of the members presentand voting.

After this, the Bill goes to theParliament for approval, whichmay or may not pass it.

In Parliament, such a resolutionis passed by a simple majority.

The LegislativeAssembly(Vidhan Sabha)

The Legislative Assembly isthe popular House of the StateLegislature where members aredirectly elected by the peoplefor a term of five years, unless

the House is dissolved by theGovernor earlier.

The strength of this popularHouse should not be less than60 or more than 500.

However, the President has thepower to alter this number and,in fact, the strengths of Goaand Sikkim Legislatures areless than 60.

The Governor may nominateone member from the Anglo-Indian community to thisHouse, if he thinks that thecommunity is not adequatelyrepresented.

The sessions of the StateLegislature, and its officers aswell as their functions arealmost similar to those at theUnion level.

Legislative Procedure In an Unicameral Legislature,

the procedure is very simple.Every Bill originates in theVidhan Sabha, duly passed byit and then sent to theGovernor for his assent.

However, in a BicameralLegislature, the process isdifferent. The Money Billfollows the similar procedureas in the Parliament.

First woman legislator - Dr. S. Muthulakshmi Reddi (1926) Madras. Longest tenure as Chief Minister -Jyoti Basu (from 1977 to 2000

November) First woman Chief Minister - Sucheta Kripalani (U.P, 1963-1967) First state Govt. to be dismissed under Article 356. - Kerala,

E.M.S. Govt. in 1959. First state under President’s rule - Punjab 1951- 1952. In 2000 three new states were created; Chhattisgarh (1 November

2000) was created out of eastern Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal (9November 2000), since renamed Uttarakhand, was created out ofthe Hilly regions of northwest Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand (15November 2000) was created out of the southern districts of Bihar.

301The Centre - State relations

Schedule 7 - Lists1. Union List : Includes 99 subjects (originally 97

subjects) over which the Union Parliament hasexclusive power of legislation.

2. State list : Comprises 61 subjects (originally 66subjects) over which the state has exclusivepowers of legislation.

3. Concurrent list : It has 52 subjects (originally47 subjects) on which the Union and the statecan make laws.

4. Residuary Powers (Art. 248) : It is vested inthe Union.

The 42nd Amendment Act in 1976 transferredtwice subject to concurrent list from state list.(1) education (2) forests (3) weights &measuring (4) protection of wild animals andbirds. (5) administration of justice, constitutionand organisation of all courts except SupremeCourt and High Courts.

In the case of concurrent list, if both Union andStates legislate in the same item, then theformer’s decision will prevail. However, if thestate law had been reserved for the presidentand received his assent, then that state law willprevail.

The Centre and the States arean essential feature ofFederalism.

A federal Constitutionestablishes dual polity withthe Union at the Centre andthe States at the periphery,each endowed with sovereignpowers to be exercised in thefield assigned to themrespectively by theConstitution.

The basic principle offederation is that thelegislative, executive andfinancial authority is dividedbetween the Centre and theStates, not by any law passedby the Centre, but by theConstitution itself.

Our Constitution makersfollowed the Canadian scheme,opting for a strong Centre.However, they added one moreList- the Concurrent List.

Schedule 7 and Article 246provides for the three folddistr ibution of powers

between the union and thestates.

The present Constitutionadopts the method followed bythe Government of India Act,1935, and divides the powersbetween the Union and theStates in three Lists - theUnion List, the State List andthe Concurrent List.

Residuary PowersArticle 248 vests the residuarypowers in the Parliament. Itsays that the Parliament hasexclusive power to make anylaw wit respect to any matternot enumerated in theConcurrent List or the StateList.

Centre’s control over theState Legislation

In addition to the Parliament’spower to legislate directly onthe State subjects, theConstitution also provides forthe Centre’s consent before aBill passed by a StateLegislature can become a law.

On 27th April2007, new commission

on Centre – State Relationsconstituted. The Commis-sion is chaired by JusticeMadan Mohan Punchhi,

former Chief Justiceof India.

Inter-State Council One of the important recomm

endations of SarkariaCommission was for establishing a permanent Inter-StateCouncil.

The President setup the Inter-State Council 1990 with thefollowing composition.

1. Prime Minister is the chairmanof Inter-State Council.

2. Chief Ministers of all Statesand those of Union Territorieshaving a Legislative Assemblyand Administrators of UTs not

302

Financial Relationsbetween the

Union and the States(Article 268 to 281)

All the public money receivedby or on behalf of the Govern-ment of India or the Govern-ment of State shall be creditedto the Public Account of Indiaor Public Account of the State.

Contingency Fund (Article267) is placed at the disposalof the President to enable ad-vances to be made by him tomeet the unforeseen expendi-ture.

The Consolidated Fund of In-

Sarkaria Commission Report on the Office of the Governor

To provide greater neutrality to the person holding the office of the Governor, the Sarkaria

Commission has suggested certain standards to be followed by the Central Government while

appointing a person to the office. These are:

The State must be consulted before the appointment of a person to the office of the Governor.

The Governor should not belong to the same State.

He should be an eminent figure in any walk of life.

He should have detachment himself from the local politics of that State.

He should not have been actively involved in politics in recent past.

He should not be a politician of the ruling party at the Centre, if the State to which he is being

appointed is ruled by some other party (parties).

Persons of the minority groups should continue to be given a chance.

System of sending fortnightly report to the President by the Governor must continue.

The power of the Governor to refer any Bill to the Centre for the President’s assent must

continue.

having a Legislative Assemblyand Governors of States underPresident’s Rule and

3. Six Ministers of Cabinet rank. Inter-State Council is a

recommendatory body withduties to investigate anddiscuss the subjects ofcommon interest between theUnion and State(s) or amongthe States.

The Council also deliberatesupon such other matters ofgeneral interest to the Statesas may be referred by theChairman to the Council.

A Standing Committee of theInter-State Council has beenconstituted for continuousconsultation and processing

dia (Article 266) is a fund whereall the money received by oron behalf of the Governmentof India in the form revenues,fresh loans, repayments ofloans etc. are deposited.

Parliament has exclusive powerto levy taxes on subjects enu-merated in the Union List(which are 14 number).

State Legislature has exclusivepower to levy taxes on sub-jects enumerated in the statelist (which are 20 in numbers).

Parliament and State Legisla-ture can levy taxes subjectsenumerated in the concurrentlist (which are 3 in number).

The power to impose taxes notenumerated in any of the 3 listsis vested in the parliament.

of matters for the considerationof the Council.

303Zonal Councils

Zonal Council is one suchinstitution, which plays a verysignificant role in improvingthe Centre-States relations.

The institution of the ZonalCouncils was created under theState Reorganization Act, 1956.

The Zonal Councils have beencreated with the objective ofthe development of ‘co-operative working’ to countergrowth of the acute Stateconsciousness, regionalismand particularist trends.

The Zonal Councils act as sub-federal links between theCentre and the States.

There are five Zonal Councils.Northern Zonal CouncilCentral Zonal CouncilEastern Zonal CouncilWestern Zonal CouncilSouthern Zonal Council

A Zonal Council consists of theUnion Home Minister who isthe Chairman of all the fiveCouncils, and the ChiefMinisters of different Statescovered by a particularCouncil.

The Chief Minister act as theVice-Chairman of the Councilby rotation, each holding officefor a period of one year at atime.

Inter-State River WaterDispute Tribunal

Inter-State Water Disputes Act,1956 extends to the whole ofIndia.

In the Indian Constitution,water related issues within aState have been listed in theState List, while the issuesrelated to the inter-State waterhave been kept in the UnionList.

So far, the Union Governmenthas set up five Inter-StateTribunals for Narmada,Krishna, Godavari, Cauveryand Ravi-Beas.

Sarkaria Commission generallyobserved that the Tribunalsset up for resolving inter-Stateissues take considerable timeto give decision/awards.

Sarkaria Commission in itsreport gave so manyrecommendations on Inter-State Water Dispute.

Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Central Government consti

tuted Narmada Water DisputesTribunal (NWDT) on 6th Oct.1969 under the Chairmanship

of Justice V. Ramaswami. The Tribunal gave its Award

on 7th Dec., 1979. Godavari Water Disputes

Tribunal The Godavari Water Disputes

Tribunal headed by JusticeBachawat was constituted bythe Government in April, 1969 .

The Tribunal gave its Awardin July, 1980.

Current Inter State River Waterdisputes and Tribunals• Vansadhara River Water Dispute• Mahadayi/ Mandovi River• Krishna River Water Dispute

Tribunal – It was set up in 1969.The Award was given in 1973 andthe publication took place in1976. The riparian States andKarnataka, Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh, Madhy Pradesh andOrissa.

• Cauvery Water Disputes• Ravi and Beas water tribunals

The Cauveri River WaterTribunalThe Union Government set up the Tribunal

in 1991, and in the Interim Award given by theTribunal in mid 1991, it ordered that 205 tmc ftof water be annually given to Tamil Nadu.Violating the Interim Award the KarnatakaGovernment legistlated with regard to the useof water from the Cauvery. Then the Presidentsought the advice of the Supreme Court underArt. 143. The Court opined that the Award waslegal and should be published in the OfficialGazette, which was done soon after.

304COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES

Constitutional Review Committee: Headed byJustice M.N. Venkitachellaiah formed by the BJPGovernment to review the Constitution which is 50years old.

R.S. Sarkaria Commission: Studied centre-staterelations.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee: Introduction ofPanchayati Raj institutions in the country.

Sen Committee: Report relates todecentralisation of powers to Panchayati Raj in-stitutions in Kerala.

Mandal Commission : Recommended 27% reser-vation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Cen-tral Government Service.

Saikia Committee: Considered the proposal tomake free and compulsory education a Funda-mental Right.

Dinesh Goswami Committee : Studied about Elec-toral reforms.

Indrajith Gupta Committee : Recommended Statefunding of elections.

Ram Niwas Mirdha: Headed the Joint Parliamen-tary Committee which enquired into securityscam.

Vohra Committee : Studied about nexus betweencriminals and politicians in India.

Just. Ram Nandan Prasad Committee : Set up toidentify the creamy layer ie, the socially and eco-nomically advanced sections among socially and

economically backward classes. K.K. Narendran Committee: Set up to identify

the creamy layer in Kerala. Ashok Mehta Committee : Appointed in 1977 to

review the working of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Swaran Singh Committee - Setup in 1976 by Con-

gress Party to make recommendation about fun-damental duties.

G.V.K. Rao committee - Setup in 1985 by Plan-ning Commission on Administrative Arrangementfor Rural Development and Poverty AlleviationProgrammes.

L.M. Singhvi Committee – Set up in 1986 by theRajiv Gandhi Government for revitalisation ofPanchayati Raj institutions for democracy anddevelopment.

Dhar Committee - Setup in 1948 by the Govern-ment of India for examining the feasibility of set-ting provinces on linguistic basis.

Fazl Ali Commission - appointed in 1953 by Gov-ernment of India for examining the feasibility ofsetting states on linguistic basis.

Punchi Commission on Centre-State Ties: A newCommission to redefine Centre-State ties wassetup on 27th April 2007 to examine the possibil-ity of giving sweeping powers to the Union Gov-ernment including Suo Motu deployment of cen-tral forces in states and investigation of crimesaffecting national security.

Provisions relating to Special Classes Part 16 of the Indian Constitution deals with spe-

cial provisions for certain classes; scheduledcastes and scheduled tribes.

The Mandal Commission was set up in 1978 tofind how many backward classes were there in thecountry.

The states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, MadhyaPradesh and Orissa are obliged to appoint a sepa-rate minister to look after the welfare of Sched-

uled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes (Ar-ticle 164)

The Constitution makes provision for the pro-tection of the interests of linguistic minority. Lin-guistic minority is a class of people whose mothertongue is different from that of the majority inthe state or a part of the state.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castesis governed by Article 338 and the National Com-mission for Scheduled Tribes are governed byArticle 338 A.

305SARKARIA COMMISSION In the wake of the increasing strain in the Centre

-State relations, the Parliament, in June 1983,appointed a Commission under the Chairmanshipof Justice R.S.Sarkaria to go into details of theCentre - State relations and to recommendmeasures to make the relations, more efficient andcooperative. The Commission submitted its reportin January 1988.

The Commission expressed the need forstreamlining the provisions of the Centre-Staterelations. It suggested the Centre, to begin with,to relax its financial hold over the States and togive them more autonomy in this regard. Thiswould make the regional powers moreresponsible.

UNION TERRITORIES Union Territories refer to areas directly adminis-

tered by the Central Government.

There are six Union Territories and one NationalCapital Territory ie. New Delhi.

The administrators of Union Territories are vari-ously known as Lieutenant Governors, ChiefCommissioners or Administrators.

In Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar island andPuducherry, they are designated as LieutenantGovernors.

In Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,Lakshadweep and Chandigarh, they are knownas Administrators.

The 68th Amendment carried out in 1992, pro-vided a special status to the Union Territory ofDelhi, the Administrator is designated as Lieu-tenant Governor.

In December 1991 Parliament voted to give Delhi,a Legislative Assembly. Madan Lal Khuranathus became the first Chief Minister of Delhi.

Parliament can make laws on any subject of thethree lists in relation to the Union Territory.

Union Territories having legislature - Puducherryand Delhi.

Comparing States and Union TerritoriesStates UTs

1. Relations with centre is federal 1. Unitary2. They have autonomy 2. No autonomy3. Distribution of power with centre 3. Direct control & administration of the centre4. Uniformity in administrative set-up 4. No uniformity in their administrative set up.5. Governor is executive head 5. Executive head is known by various designation6. Governor is constitutional head 6. Administrator is an agent of the president.7. Parliament cannot legislate on state list 7. Parliament legislates on the state list

306THE STATES CREATED AFTER 1950

Andhra Pradesh: Created by the State of Andhra Pradesh Act, 1953 by carving out some areas from theState of Madras.

Gujarat and Maharashtra : The State of Bombay was divided into two States i.e., Maharashtra and Gujaratby the Bombay (Reorganisation) Act, 1960.

Kerala: Created by the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. It comprised Travancore and Cochin areas. Karnataka: Created from the Princely State of Mysore by the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. It has been

renamed Karnataka in 1973. Nagaland: It was carved out from the State of Assam by the state of Nagaland Act, 1962. Haryana: It was carved out from the State of Punjab by the Punjab (Reorganisation) Act, 1966. Himachal Pradesh: The Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh was elevated to the status of State by the

State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970. Meghalaya: First carved out as a sub-State within the State of Assam by 23rd Constitution Amendment,

1969. Later, in 1971, it received the status of a full-fledged State by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation)Act, 1971.

Manipur and Tripura: Both these States were elevated from the status of Union Territories by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Sikkim: Sikkim was given first the status of Associate State by the 35th Constitutional Amendment Act,1974. It got the status of a full State in 1975 by the 36th Amendment Act, 1975.

Mizoram: It was elevated to the status of a full State by the State of Mizoram act, 1986. Arunachal Pradesh: It received the status of a full State by the State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986. Goa: Goa was separated from the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and was made a full-fledged State

by the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act, 1987. But Daman and Diu remained as Union Territory. Chattisgarh: Formed by the Constitutional Amen. Act 2000 by dividing Madhya Pradesh on Nov. 1, 2000. Uttaranchal: Formed by the Const. Amendment Act 2000 by dividing Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000. Jharkhand: Formed by the Constitutional Amendment Act 2000 by dividing Bihar on November 15, 2000.

Reorganisationof State

After independence, the de-mand for the reorganization ofthe States on the linguistic ba-sis was raised from differentregions.

The Constituent Assemblyappointed the S.K.Dhar Com-mission in November 1947 tostudy the issue of thereorganisation of the State onlinguistic basis.

The Congress, in its Jaipursession in 1948, appointed athree member committee toconsider the recommendations

of the Dhar Commission. The Committee is popularly

known as the JVP Committeeafter the names, of its threemembers-Jawahar Lal Nehru,Vallabh Bhai Patel and PattabhiSitarammaiah.

The Committee rejected lan-guage as the basis for thereorganisation of the States.

It suggested security, unityand economic prosperity ofthe nation as the criteria of thereorganisation. The CongressWorking Committee acceptedits recommendations in 1949,

but the demand for the linguis-tic reorganisation of the Statespersisted in the southernStates particularly in theTelugu speaking areas.

To make an exhaustive studyof the problem, the Govern-ment of India set up the StateReorganisation Commission in1953 which was headed byFazal Ali.

STATE REORGANISATIONCOMMITTEE (1953)

Chairman: Fazal Ali Members:

1. Hriday Nath Kunzru2. K.N.Panikkar

307 The Commission in its re-

port, submitted in 1955, ac-cepted the language as thebasis of the reorganisation ofthe States.

It suggested the reorganisation of 27 States of variouscategories into 16 States andthree Union Territories.

The State ReorganisationAct, 1956 was passed by theParliament to give effect tothe recommendations of theCommission.

Procedure for creationof new states

Parliament can form new

States, alter the area,boundaries or name of theexisting States by a law passedby a simple majority.

No Bills for the formation ofnew States or alteration of theboundaries or names of theexisting States shall beintroduced in either House ofthe Parliament, except on therecommendation of thePresident.

The President, beforeintroducing the Bill in theParliament, shall refer it to theconcerned State Legislature

for its opinion within aspecified time limit.

If the State Legislature doesnot give its opinion within thespecified time limit, the timelimit may be extended.

The Bill may be introducedeven if the opinion has notcome.

The Parliament is not bound toaccept or act upon the viewsof the State legislature.

It is not necessary to makefresh reference to the StateLegislature every time on anamendment to the bill,proposed and accepted.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN INDIAHistory of Panchayathi Raj The fifth entry of the state list

of the seventh schedule to theconstitution deals with “LocalGovernment”.

1. Balwantray Mehta Committe -1957-recommended “democra-tic decentralisation and three -tier Panchayat Raj System.

2. Ashok Mehta Committee .1977- recommended two tiersystem and reservation for SCand ST.

3. G.V.K. Rao Committee . 19854. L.M. Singhvi Committee - 1986

recommended that P.R. Insti-tutions must be constitution-ally recognised.

64th amendment bill introducedduring Rajiv Gandhi’s reign,but was a failure.

V.P. Singh Govt. reintroducedthe Bill in 1989, but a failure.

Narasimha Rao Govt. passedthe bill with slight modificationto the bill.

73rd Amendment Act of 1992: This act added part IX and

schedule eleven to theconstitution.

This gave constitutional statusto Panchayath Raj institutions.

The act contains 29 functionalitems under Art. 243.G

The act has given life to Art.40a directive principle.

The Act provides for a GrammaSabha as the foundation of thePanchayat Raj system.

The act envisages a three -tiersystemVillage level, Intermediate level,District level.

All the members at the village,intermediate and district levelsare elected directly by the

people. However chair personsto the intermediate and districtlevels are elected indirectly.

The act provides forreservation for SC & ST inproportion to their population.one third of total number ofseats is reserved for women.

The act gives five year periodto panchyat at every level.

The conduct of election topanchyats is vested in thestate election commission.

The Governor shall after everyfive years constitute a financecommission to review thefinancial position ofpanchayat.

This act doesnot apply to thestates of Jammu and Kashmir,Nagaland, Meghalaya andMizoram.

The commencement day ofthis act is 24th April 1993.

308

Urban LocalGovernment

1. First Municipal Corporation inIndia was set up at Madras in1687.

2. The Municipal Corporationwere set up in Bombay andCalcutta in 1726.

3. Lord Mayo’s Resolution of1870 on financialdecentralisation visualised thedevelopment of local self govt.institution.

4. Lord Ripon’s Resolution of1882 has been hailed as the‘Magna Carta’ of local selfgovt. He is known as the fatherof local self govt. in India.

5. The Royal Commission ondecentralisation was

Institution and Local Bodies

1. All India Institute of Local Self Govt. at Bombay in 1927.

2. Centre for Urban and Environmental studies in Delhi (1967)

3. Regional centres for Urban and Environmental studies (Lucknow,

Kolkatta, Hyderabad, Mumbai) (1968)

4. National Institute of Urban Affairs (1976)

5. Human settlement Management Institute (1985).

Local Government The Panchayathi Raj was introduced in the country in 1959. The present Panchayathi Raj had come into effect by the 73rd Amendment Act in April 1993. The members of the Panchayat at all levels are elected by direct election. State Election Commission has the power to conduct elections to the Panchayats & Municipalities. 50% seats are reserved for women in Kerala. The duration of Panchayat is five years. The 74th Amendment Act constituted the Local Urban Government, Nagar Palika Bill. The duration of Municipalities is five years. In June 21, 2002 Left Front under Communist Party of India achieved the distinction of 25 years of continu-

ous reign in West Bengal. Kerala Legislature became the first legislature that introduce the law of disqualifying the members of local

Self Government for six years from contesting in elections, if they come under the purview of defection. The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed two bills - The Kerala Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Bill

2009 and the Kerala Municipality (Amendment) Bill 2009- that will now reserve 50% seats in local govern-ment bodies for women.

appointed in 1907.6. Under diarchical scheme local

self govt. became a transferredsubject under the charge of aresponsible Indian Minister.

7. Cantonments Act was passedin 1924.

8. Local self government wasdeclared as a provincial subject

in 1935. There are eight types of Urban

local Govt. in Indiai) Municipal corporationii) Municipalityiii) Notified Area Committeeiv) Town area committeev) Cantonment Boardvi) Townshipvii) Port Trustviii) Special Purpose Agency

309AMENDMENTS OF

THE CONSTITUTION Amendment means a change or

an alternation of law. The Constitution was first

amended in 1951 to overcomethe difficulties created by theSupreme Court due to the de-cision regarding FundamentalRights especially the right toequality before law.

The procedure for the amend-ment of the Indian Constitutionis given in Article 368.

The amendment procedure ofIndian Constitution is mod-elled on that of South Africa.

According to Article 368, theParliament, can amend any pro-visions of the Constitution with-out altering its basic structure.The Constitution provides forthree types of ConstitutionalAmendments:i.e., Amendments that can beeffected by1. By simple majority of Parlia-

ment2. Two third majority3. Two third majority and ap-

proval of a majority of thestate legislatures

The amendment procedure isa rare combination of rigidityand flexibility.

'Right to Constitutional Remedies' (Article 32-35) wasdescribed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as

‘the heart and soul of the Constitution.’

The Doctrine of Lapse was an

annexation policy purportedly devised by Lord

Dalhousie, who was the Governor General for the British

in India between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any

princely state or territory under the direct influence of the British

East India Company (the dominant imperial power in the subconti-

nent), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System,

would automatically be annexed if the ruler was either

"manifestly incompetent or died without a di-

rect heir".

Important Amendments1. First Amendment 1951: Added

Ninth Schedule.2. Seventh Amendment 1956: Ne-

cessitated on account of reor-ganization of States on a lin-guistic basis.

3. Eighth Amendment 1959: Ex-tended special provisions forreservations of seats for SCs,STs and Anglo-Indians in LokSabha and Legislative.Assemblies for a period of 10years from 1960 to 1970.

4. The Ninth Amendment 1960:Gave effect to transfer certainterritories to Pakistan followingthe 1958 Indo-Pak agreement.

5. The Tenth Amendment 1961:Incorporated Dadra & NagarHaveli as a UT.

6. Twelfth Amendment 1962: In-corporated Goa, Daman & Diuas a UT.

7. Thirteenth Amendment 1962:Created Nagaland as a State.

8. Fourteenth Amendment 1963:Pondicherry, Karaikal, Maheand Yanam, the former French

territories were included in theschedule as UT of Pondicherry.

9. Eighteenth Amendment 1966:Reorganized Punjab intoPunjab, Haryana and UT ofChandigarh.

10. Twenty first Amendment 1967:Included Sindhi as the Fif-teenth Regional language.

11. Twenty second Amendment1969: Created a sub-state ofMeghalaya within Assam.

12. Twenty third Amendment1969: Extended the reservationof seats for SC/ST and nomina-tion of Anglo-Indians for a fur-ther period of 10 years (till1980).

13. Twenty fifth Amendment 1971:Amended Art 31 regarding theright of the State to acquire pri-vate property for public pur-pose.

14. Twenty sixth Amendment1971: Abolished the titles andspecial privileges of former rul-ers of princely states.

15. Twenty seventh Amendment

42nd amendment (1976)

brought about drastic

changes in the Indian

Constitution. Because of

its drastic nature, it

came to be called a

‘Mini Constitution’.

310

Directive Principles of State Policy

Part IV of the Constitution contains the Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 36 - 51).

Directive Principles are classified as Socialistic principles, Gandhian principles, Liberal Intellec-

tual principles. The idea of directive principles has been borrowed from the Irish Constitution.

The directive principles imposed certain duties on government for the purpose of a better society

in India.

The Directive Principles are not enforceable in courts. Though the Directive Principles are not

enforceable, they are declared fundamental to the governance of the country.

Article 44 directs the state to secure a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Article 45 directs to provide free

and compulsory education for children upto 14 years.

The crucial difference between the fundamental rights and directive principles is that the former

are justiciable and the latter are non justiciable.

K.S. Shah, a prominent member in the constituent assembly, described the directive prin-

ciples as Pious Wishes and also held that Directive Principles constitute 'a cheque payable

if its fund permits.'

1971: Established Manipur andTripura as States and Mizoramand Arunachal Pradesh as UTs.

16. Thirty first Amendment 1973:Increased the elective strengthof LS from 525 to 545.The upper limit of representa-tives of States went up from 500to 525.

17. Thirty sixth Amendments1975: Made Sikkim a State.

18. Thirty eighth Amendment1975: Provided that the Presi-dent can make a declaration ofemergency, and the promulga-tion of ordinances by the Presi-dent, Governors and the Ad-ministrative Heads of UTswould be final and could notbe challenged in any court.It also authorized the Presidentto declare different kinds ofemergencies.

19. Thirty ninth Amendment1975: Placed beyond challengein courts, the election to Parlia-ment of a person holding theoffice of PM or Speaker andelection of the President andPrime Minister.

20. Forty second Amendment1976: Provided supremacy ofParliament and gave primacy toDirective Principles over Fun-damental Rights. It also added10 Fundamental Duties.New words - Socialist, Secularand Unity and Integrity of theNation, were added in the pre-amble.

21. Forty fourth Amendment 1978:The Right to Property was de-leted from Part III. Article 352was amended to provide'Armed Rebellion' as one of thecircumstances for declaration ofemergency.

22. Forty fifth Amendment 1985:Extended reservation for SC/STby another 10 years (till 1990).

23. Fifty second Amendment 1985:Added the Tenth Schedule (re-garding anti-defection).

24. Fifty third Amendment 1986:Mizoram was made a state.

25. Fifty fifth Amendment 1986:Conferred statehood toArunachal Pradesh.

26. Fifty sixth Amendment 1987:Hindi version of the Constitu-

tion of India was accepted forall purposes.The UT of Goa, Daman and Diuwas divided and Goa was madea State. Daman and Diu re-mained as a UT.

27. Sixty first Amendment 1989:Reduced the voting age from21 to 1 8 years for the LS as wellas Assemblies.

28. Sixty first Amendment 1989:Also extended reservation ofseats for SC/ST till 2000 AD.

29. Seventy first Amendment1992: Konkani, Manipuri andNepali were included in the VIIISchedule.

30. Seventy third Amendment1993: (Panchayati Raj Bill) Pro-vided among other things GramSabha in Villages, constitutionof panchayats at the village andother levels, direct elections toall seats in panchayats and res-ervation of seats for the SC andST and fixing of tenure of 5years for panchayats.

31. Seventy fourth Amendment1993: (Nagarpalika Bill) Pro-

311

SCHEDULES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of India at the time of adoption had only eight Schedules to which four morewere added during the last fifty years.

i) First Schedule Contains the List of the States and Union Territories.ii) Second Schedule It consists of five parts.

Part 'A' Emoluments to the President of India and the Governors of States.Part 'B' OmittedPart 'C' Contains provisions about the Speaker/Deputy Speaker or Chairman/Vice

Chairman of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies orCouncils.

Part 'D' Emoluments of the Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.Part 'E' Provision of Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

iii) Third Schedule Contains oaths and affirmations.iv) Fourth Schedule Allocation of seats of each State and Union Territories in the Council of States.v) Fifth Schedule Provision of administration and control of Scheduled Areas.vi) Sixth Schedule Provision of administration of Tribal Areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and

Mizoram and also about the administration in these areas.vii) Seventh Schedule Distribution of powers between the Union and the State Governments.viii) Eighth Schedule The 18 languages recognised by the Constitution.

ix) Ninth Schedule Acts and rules that are protected by Art. 31 'B' - land reforms.x) Tenth Schedule Contains the provision of Anti-defection Law (introduced by 52nd

Constitutional Amendment Act).xi) Eleventh Schedule Contains the 29 subjects over which the Panchayats have jurisdiction (73rd

Constitutional Amendment Act).xii) Twelfth Schedule Contains the 18 subjects over which the Municipalities have jurisdiction (74th

Constitutional Amendment Act).

vides for, among other things,constitution of three types ofmunicipalities, reservation ofseats in every municipality forthe SC and ST, women and thebackward classes.

32. Eighty second Amendment2000: Reinstalled the provisionof reservation of SC and STs inmatters related to promotion.Besides, the qualifying marksfor passing an examination forthem have also been lowered.

33. Eighty fourth Amendment2001: Extended freeze on LokSabha and State Assemblyseats till 2026.

34. Eighty sixth Amendment 2002:Makes education a fundamen-tal right for children in the agegroup of 6-14 years.

35. Eighty seventh Amendment2003: Made the 2001 censusthe basis for delimitation ofconstituencies of the LowerHouse of Parliament (LokSabha) and State assemblies(Vidhan Sabhas).

36. Ninety first Amendment 2003:Amended the Anti-DefectionLaw and also made a provisionthat the number of ministers inthe Central & State Govts, can-not be more than 15% of the

strength of Lok Sabha & re-spected Vidhan Sabha.

37. Ninety second Amendment2003: Bodo, Maithili, Santhaliand Dogri added into the VIIISchedule.

38. Ninety third Amendment 2005:To reserve seats for sociallyand educationally backwardclasses, besides the ScheduledCastes and the ScheduledTribes, in private unaided insti-tutions other than those run byminorities.

312Important Articles

Article 1 - Name and Territory of the Union. Article 14 - Relates to Right to Equality Article 17 - Abolishes the practice of untouchability Article 18 - Prohibits the state from conferring any title.

Article 19 - Deals with six freedoms of Indian citizens namely,(a) freedom of speech and expression(b) freedom of assembly(c) freedom of association(d) freedom of movement throughout the territory of India(e) freedom of residence and settlement in any part of India(f) freedom of occupation.

Article 21 - Provides protection to life and liberty to all persons Article 21A - Right to elementary education. Article 22 - Affords protection against arbitrary arrest and detention Article 23 - Prohibits the traffic in human beings and beggars. (making a person work without

wages or adequate compensation) Article 24 - Prohibits the employment of children below 14 years of age Articles 25-28 - Relates to Right to freedom of religion Article 32 - Right to Constitutional Remedies described as ‘‘The heart and soul of the Constitution’’

by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Article 36-51 -Relates to Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 39A - Free legal aid Article 40 - Deals with the formation of Panchayats Article 44 - Uniform Civil Code for the Citizens. Article 45 - Free and compulsory education to all children below 14 years of age. Article 50 - Separation of Judiciary Article 51 - Promotion of International peace & security Article 51(A) - Relates to list of Fundamental Duties Article 74 - Council of Ministers to aid and advice the President Article 110 - Definition of Money Bills. Article 112 - Annual Financial Statement (Budget) Article 123 - Power of President to promulgate ordinances during recess of Parliament. Article 262 - Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of Inter-state rivers or river valleys. Article 312 - All India Services Article 315 - Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the states. Article 324 - Relates to the Election Commission Article 352 - Gives provision regarding emergencies Article 356 - Proclamation of President’s Rule in the states. Article 368 - Amendment of the Constitution by the Parliament Article 370 - Special status to Jammu and Kashmir The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir came into force on January 26, 1957.

313Parts

Parts are the individual chapters in the Constitution

Part I .............................................................................................................. Union and its Territory

Part II .............................................................................................................................. Citizenship.

Part III ................................................................................................................ Fundamental Rights

Part IV ........................................................................... Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties

Part V ............................................................................................................................... The Union

Part VI .............................................................................................................................. The States

Part VII ............................................................. States in the B part of the First schedule (Repealed).Part VIII ........................................................................................................... The Union Territories

Part IX ...................................................................................... Panchayat system and MunicipalitiesPart X ............................................................................................... The scheduled and Tribal Areas

Part XI ............................................................................ Relations between the Union and the States

Part XII ................................................................................... Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits

Part XIII .................................................................. Trade and Commerce within the territory of India

Part XIV ............................................................. Services Under the Union, the States and Tribunals

Part XV ............................................................................................................................... Elections

Part XVI ...................................................................... Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes

Part XVII .......................................................................................................................... Languages

Part XVIII ........................................................................................................ Emergency Provisions

Part XIX ..................................................................................................................... Miscellaneous

Part XX ............................................................................................ Amendment of the Constitution

Part XXI .................................................................... Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions

Part XXII .......................... Short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals

Part XXIII .................................................................. Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions

Part XXIV ................................................................. Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions

314

Longest servingPresident: Dr.Rajendra Prasad (12years 2 months, 18days).

Between 1950-52,also Dr. RajendraPrasad was thePresident of Indiabut was elected bythe ConstitutentAssembly.

First electedPresident: Dr.Rajendra Prasadelected in May,1952. (second timeon May 1957).

Second President :Dr. S. Radhakrishnan(1962), who also had been in the office ofVice-President for two terms.

President for shortest term : Dr. ZakirHussain. (May 13, 1967 to May 3, 1969)

First President to die in harness: Dr. ZakirHussain (on May 3, 1969)

First and Only Vice President to die inharness: Krishan Kant (on July 28, 2002).

Oldest President of India: R. Venkataraman(at the age of 76 years, 7 months, 21 days)

Youngest President of India: N. SanjeevaReddy (at the age of 64 years)

Neelam Sanjeev Reddy is the onlyPresident who was elected unopposed in1977. Congress did not field any candidatein this election.

Philosopher President : Dr. S.Radhakrishnan

First Malayalee to become Indian President :K.R. Narayanan

K.R. Narayanan was the only Presidentwho belong to the Scheduled Caste.

The Kerala Governor who later became the

President of India: V.V. Giri The second round of counting resorted to

only in the election of V.V. Giri. V.V. Giri is the only President who won the

election as an independent candidate in1969.

First President to vote in the LegislativeAssembly is A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

First President to travel in fighter jet and ina submarine Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the first scientistcandidate to be elected President of India.He is known as Missile Man of India.

Lok Sabha Speaker who became the PresidentNeelam Sanjeeva Reddy.

The First Acting President - V.V. Giri Justice M. Hidaytullah acted as the

President in 1969 in his capacity as theChief Justice of India as both the offices ofthe President and Vice-President werevacant at that time.

First Woman President of India - PrathibhaPatil.

Indian Presidents

Books Written byIndian Presidents

India Divided , Satyagraha at Champaran,Atmakatha, Bapu ke Kadmoncin :Rajendra Prasad

A Hindu View of Life, The Ethics of Vedanta,Essentials of Psychology, East and West Reli-gion, Freedom and Culture, ContemporaryIndian Philosophy, Eastern Religious andWestern thought, Indian Philosophy:Dr. S. Radha krishnan

A Million Jobs : V.V. Giri My Presidential Years, A million years:

R. Venkataraman The Wings of Fire, Guiding Souls, India 2020,

A vision for the new Millennium, Ignitedminds, India - My dreams.: Dr. APJ. AbdulKalam.

315Dr. RAJENDRA PRASAD (1950-1962)

The first president of Independent India, Indianstatesman and devout Gandhian, was born in 1884.He also handled the Ministry for food (1947).Awarded Bharat Ratna in 1962. Died in 1963.Dr. S. RADAKRISHNAN (1962-1967)

Indian Scholar, Philosopher, Writer andstatesman, was born in 1888. Served as the FirstVice President (1952-62) and later the President.He taught at Oxford University for 16years.He wasChairman of UNESCO. ‘The Hindu view of Life’and ‘The India Philosophy’ are his books. He wasAwarded ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1954. He died in 1975.Dr. ZAKIR HUSSAIN (1967-1969)

A great patriot, educationalist and social worker.Born in 1897, served as chancellor of AligarhMuslim University. Received Bharat Ratna in 1963.Died in 1969.JUSTICE. M. HIDAYATULLAH(JULY -AUGUST, 1969 ‘acting’)

Born in 1905, he was the judge of high courtand served as Chief Commissioner of Scouts andGuides. Died in 1992.V.V.GIRI (1969-1974)

He was born in 1884. Lawyer by profession,Veteran trade unionist. Received Bharat Ratna in1975. Died in 1980.FAKHRUDDIN ALI AHMED (1974-1977)

He was born in 1905. He was active in thefreedom movement. Served as Union Minister from1966 and later the President. Died in 1977.B.D. JATTI (FEBRUARY - JULY, 1977 ‘acting’)

He was born in 1913 and was a lawyer byprofession. He became Chief Minister of Karnatakaand Governor of Orissa.;NEELAM SANJIVA REDDY (1977-1982)

Born in 1913. Served as Chief Minister of AndhraPradesh, Union Minister and Speaker of Lok Sabha.Freedom Fighter. President of Indian NationalCongress. Died in 1996.GIANI ZAIL SINGH (1982-1987)

Giani Zail Singh was born in 1916. The Giani’sinnings in public life have been long and varied -

freedom fighter, social reformer, champion of thedown-trodden, State Congress Leader,successful Chief Minister and Union HomeMinister. He was elected to the highest office ofthe President of India on July 15, 1982. Died in1994.

R.VENKETARAMAN (1987-1992)Shri Venkataraman was born in 1910. He was

elected Vice-President of India in August, 1984.Having been elected to the Office of the Presidentof India, Shri Venkataraman was sworn in on July25, 1987. He is the Eighth President of theRepublic of India.

DR.SHANKAR DAYAL SHARMA (1992-1997)He was born in 1918. Scholar, freedom fighter,

was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh,Congress President, Union Cabinet minister,Governor and Vice-President. Died in 1999.

K.R.NARAYAN (JULY 25, 1997- JULY 24, 2002)Shri Kocheril Raman Narayanan was born on

October 27, 1920 in the village of Uzhavoor inKottayam district, Kerala. He was elected as vice-president of India and served in this positionfrom August 21, 1992. After that he assumedoffice as President of India on July 25, 1997.

Dr. AVUL PAKIR JAINULABHUDINABDUL KALAM (2002-2007)

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Adbul Kalam,was born on 15th October, 1931 at Dhanushkodiin Rameshwaram district, Tamil Nadu. Thisgenius rightfully termed as the father of India’smissile technology formerly served as thescientific advisor to the government of India. Hewas sworn in as President on July 25, 2002.

SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATILSmt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil was born on

December 19, 1934 in Nadgaon village of JalgaonDistrict, Maharashtra. Smt. Patil assumed officeas the 12th President of India on July 25, 2007.She is the first woman President of India. Smt.Patil was the Governor of Rajasthan fromNovember 8, 2004 till June 21, 2007.

316Indian Prime Ministers

Prime Minister for the longestperiod : Jawaharlal Nehru (17years)

The first woman PrimeMinister:Indira Gandhi

Prime Minister for shortest term :Charan Singh(5 months, 16 days)

The oldest Prime Minister toassume office: Morarji Desai (atthe age of 81)

The youngest Prime Minister toassume office: Rajiv Gandhi (atthe age of 40)

The first Prime Minister to loseelection : IndiraGandhi (in 1977)

The first Prime Minister toresign : Morarji Desai

The first Prime Minister to die inharness : Jawaharlal Nehru

The first Prime Minister to die inharness abroad: Lal BahadurShastri (at Tashkent in 1966)

The first Prime Minister to getassassinated : Indira Gandhi(1984)

The first acting Prime Ministerof India : Gulzarilal Nanda

The Prime Minister who neverfaced the Parliament : CharanSingh

The first Prime Minister to lose avote of confidence: V.P. Singh

The Prime Minister of the second shortesttermS. Chandrasekhar

The Prime Minister of the shortest term in onespellA. B. Vajpayee (16 May 1996 - 01 June 1996)

First Prime Minister from KarnatakaDeva Gowda

Who became the Prime Minister of India afterthe resignation of Deva Gowda who lost the

confidence Motion in ParliamentI.K. Gujral

First Prime Minister from BJPA.B. Vajpayee

How many times Vajpayee became the PrimeMinister of IndiaThree Times (1996, 1998, 1999)

The Prime Minister who made Lahore busjourneyA.B. Vajpayee

The Indian Prime Minister to attend AgrasummitA.B. Vajpayee

Who was the Prime Minister of India at thetime of Kargil War?A.B. Vajpayee

First Indian Prime Minister to speak in Hindi inUN General AssemblyA.B. Vajpayee

Who is the 14th PrimeMinister of IndiaDr. Manmohan Singh

The RBI Governor whobecome the PrimeMinister of IndiaDr. Manmohan Singh

The first Prime Ministerfrom Sikh CommunityDr. Manmohan Singh

Books written by Indian Prime Ministers

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru : ‘The Discovery ofIndia’, ‘Glimpses of world History’, ‘An Autobi-ography’, ‘A bunch of old letters’.

Indira Gandhi : My Truth, The Eternal India. Chandra Sekhar : Dynamics of Social Change P.V. Narasimha Rao : The Insider, Ayodhya 6th

December 1992. Atal Bihari Vajpayee : ‘New Dimension of India’s

Foreign Policy’. My country My Life: Autobiography of

L.K. Advani (Leader of opposition in India)