Constitutional Safeguards in India Essays

Constitutional Safeguards in India Essays Constitutional Safeguards in India Paper Constitutional Safeguards in India Paper Constitutional Safeguards In India, the National Constitution of 1950 or any other Constitutional document does not define the word Minority. The Constitution only refers to Minorities and speaks of those based on religion or language. In the Constitution of India, the Preamble (as amended in 1976) declares the State to be Secular, and this is of special relevance for the Religious Minorities. Equally relevant for them, especially, is the prefatory declaration of the Constitution in its Preamble that all citizens of India are to be secured liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship and equality of status and of opportunity. The Constitution of India has provided two types of safe-guards -general and specific to safeguard various interests of the minorities. In the first category are those provisions that are equally enjoyed by both groups. The provisions ensure justice- social, economic and political equality to all. The second category consists of provisions meant specifically for the protection of particular interests of minorities. peoples right to equality before the law and equal protection of the laws; * prohibition of discrimination against citizens on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth; * authority of State to make any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens (besides the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes); * citizens right to equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State and prohibition in this regard of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Authority of State to make any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State; * Peoples freedom of conscience and right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and other Fundamental Rights; * Authority of State to make law for regulating or restricting any economic financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice, and for providing for social welfare and reform; * Authority of State to make laws for throwing open of Hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of the respective communities; * Sikh communitys right of wearing and carrying of kirpans ; * Right of every religious denomination or any section thereof subject to public order, morality and health to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable proposes, manage its own affairs of religion, and own and acquire movabl e immovable property and administer it in accordance with law; * Peoples freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion; * Peoples freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in educational institutions wholly maintained, recognized, or aided by the State; * Right of any section of the citizens to conserve its distinct language, script or culture * Restriction on denial of admission to any citizen, to any educational institution maintained or aided by the State, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them; * Right of all Religious and Linguistic Minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and * Freedom of Minority-managed educational institutions from discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the State. Part IV of the Constitution of India, containing non-justifiable Directive Principles of State Policy, includes the following provisions having significant implicat ions for the Minorities: Obligation of the State to endeavor to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities amongst individuals and groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations; * Obligation of State to endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India; * Obligation of State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people (besides Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and * Obligation of State to take steps for prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. Part IV-A of the Constitution, relating to Fundamental Duties, applies in full to all citizens, including those belonging to Minorities and of special relevance for the Minorities are the following provisions in this Part: * Citizens duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; and * Citizens duty to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. Some other provisions of the Constitution having special relevance and implications for the Minorities are: * Official obligation to pay out of the consolidated funds of the States of Kerala and Tamilnadu 46. 5 and 13. lakh rupees respectively to the local Dewasom Funds for the maintenance of Hindu temples and shrines in the territories of the erstwhile State of Travancore-Cochin; * Special provision relating to the language spoken by a section of the population of any State; * Provision for facilities for instruction in m other-tongue at primary stage; * Provision for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities and his duties; * Special provision with respect to Naga religious or social practices, customary law and procedure, and administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law. * Identical special provision for the Mizos; and * Provision relating to continuation in force of pre-Constitution laws until altered or repealed or amended by a competent legislature or other competent authority - Constitution of India/Part IV Article 36Â  {Definition} In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, the State has the same meaning as in Part III. - [edit]Article 37Â  {Application of the principles contained in this Part} The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforced by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws. - [edit]Article 38Â  {State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people} 1. The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life. 2. The State shall, in particular, strive to minimise the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations. - [edit]Article 39Â  {Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State} The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing a. hat the citizen, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood; b. that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; c. that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and mean s of production to the common detriment; d. that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women; e. that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength; f. hat children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. Article 39AÂ  {Equal justice and free legal aid} The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. - edit]Article 40Â  {Organisation of village panchayats} The State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. - [edit]Article 41Â  {Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases} The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want. - edit]Article 42Â  {Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief} The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. - [edit]Article 43Â  {Living wage, etc. , for workers} The State shall endeavor to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organisation or in any other way, to all workers agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a living wage, cond itions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to promote cottage industries on an individual or co-operative basis in rural areas. Article 43AÂ  {Participation of workers in management of industries} The State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other organisation engaged in any industry. - [edit]Article 44Â  {Uniform civil code for the citizen} The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. - [edit]Article 45Â  {Provision for free and compulsory education for children} The State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. - edit]Article 46Â  {Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections} The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in p articular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. - [edit]Article 47Â  {Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health} The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health. - edit]Article 48Â  {Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry} The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. Article 48AÂ  {Protection and improv ement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life} The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country. - [edit]Article 49Â  {Protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance} It shall be the obligation of the State to protect every monument or place or object of artistic or historic interest, declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance, from spoliation, disfigurement, destruction, removal, disposal or export, as the case may be. [edit]Article 50Â  {Separation of judiciary from executive} The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State. - [edit]Article 51Â  {Promotion of international peace and security} The State shall endeavour to a. promote international peace and security; b. maintain just and honourable relations between nations; c. foster respect for international law and treaty ob ligations in the dealings of organised people with one another; and d. encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.