Under Part IV ‘A’, Article 51A of the Indian Constitution describes the following "Fundamental Duties" (i.e. the duty of every citizen of India).
To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
To safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of achievement; and
Who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.
Article 74 (1) of the Indian Constitution states that “there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.”
The President has a wide range of power including executive, legislative, judicial, and emergency powers. However, in a parliamentary system (e.g. India), these powers are in reality used by the President only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers have support of the majority in the Lok Sabha and they are the real executive.
The President is the formal head of the government.
The Prime Minister is obliged to furnish all the information that the President may call for.
The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister.
In the parliamentary form of executive, it is essential that the Prime Minister has the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha. And the moment the Prime Minister loses this support of the majority; he or she loses the office.
In case no party is in majority, a few parties can form government ‘in coalition.’
A Prime Minister has to be a Member of Parliament (MP); however, if someone becomes the Prime Minister without being an MP; in such as case, he or she has to get elected to the Parliament within six months of period.
The Council of Ministers constitutes not more than 15 percent of a total number of members of the House of the People (91st Amendment).
Persons selected by the Union Public Service Commission for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) constitute the backbone of the higher level bureaucracy in the States.
Though IAS and IPS work under the state government, they are appointed by the central government; hence, only the central government can take disciplinary action against them. However, the officers appointed through the State Public Service Commission look after the state administration.
All the political institutions in India, function in the name of the President of India and the President supervises their functions to bring harmony in their works to achieve the objectives of the State.
In India, the President is elected, not appointed, (although not elected directly by the people). The President is elected by the Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Members of the Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) of each state.
Participation of Members of the state’s Legislative Assemblies in the election of the president of India shows that the President of India represents the entire nation. At the same time, the indirect election of the President ensures that he cannot claim popular mandate like that of the Prime Minister and thus remains only a nominal head of the State.
All major policy decisions and orders of the government are issued in the President’s name.
The President appoints all the major heads of the institutions of the government, i.e.,
The appointment of the Chief Justice of India,
The Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts of the states,
The Governors of the states,
The Election Commissioners,
Ambassadors to other countries, etc.
The government of India makes all international treaties and agreements in the name of the President.
The President is the supreme commander of the defense forces of India.
However, all these powers are exercised by the President only on the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
The President can ask the Council of Ministers for reconsideration on any advice (asked to him by the Council of Ministers), but if the Council of Ministers recommend the same advice again, he is bound to act according to it.
A Bill passed by the Parliament becomes a law only after the President gives assent to it. The President can return a Bill back to the Parliament for reconsideration, but he has to sign it, if the Parliament passes the Bill again (with or without amendment).
The Rajya Sabha is an indirectly elected body and represents the States of India.
The elected members of State Legislative Assembly elect the members of Rajya Sabha.
In the U.S.A, every state has equal representation in the Senate irrespective of size and population of the states, but in India, it is not the same.
In India, states with larger size of population get more representatives than states with smaller population. For example, Uttar Pradesh (the most populated state) sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha; on the other hand, Sikkim (the least populated state) sends only one member to Rajya Sabha.
The number of members to be elected from each State has been fixed by the fourth schedule of the Constitution.
Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a term of six years and then they can be re-elected.
Members of Rajya Sabha are elected in such a manner that they do not complete their tenure altogether; rather after every two years, one-third member complete their term and elections are held for those one-third seats only.
Likewise, the Rajya Sabha never gets fully dissolved and hence, it is known as the permanent House of the Parliament.
Apart from the elected members, the President appoints 12 members from the fields of literature, science, art, and social service.
Deliberation and discussion, Approval or Refusal of laws, financial control, No confidence motion, are different instruments of Parliamentary control.
Standing Committees, Joint Parliamentary Committees, etc. are the important committees of the Parliament; their main functions are studying the demands for grants made by various ministries, looking into expenditure incurred by various departments, investigating cases of corruption, etc.
An amendment to the Constitution (52nd amendment act) was made in 1985, popularly known as an anti-defection amendment.
According to anti-defection amendment, there was an agreement among the parties that a legislator who is elected on one party’s ticket must be restricted from ‘defecting’ to another party.
The presiding officer of the House is the authority who can take the final decisions on all anti-defection cases.
If a member remains absent in the House when asked by the party leadership to be present or votes against the instructions of the party or voluntarily leaves the membership of the party, it is tantamount to defection.
In 1882, Lord Rippon, the-then Viceroy of India, took the initiative to form elected local government body.
Following the Government of India Act 1919, village Panchayats were established in many provinces and the trend continued after the Government of India Act of 1935.
When the Constitution was prepared, the subject of local government was assigned to the States and it was one of the provisions of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
After the independence, a three-tier Panchayati Raj system of local government was recommended for the rural areas; resultantly, some of the states including Gujarat and Maharashtra adopted the system of elected local bodies (1960).
After 1987, a thorough review of the functioning of local government institutions was initiated and in 1989, the P. K. Thungon Committee recommended constitutional recognition to the local government bodies.
Finally, in 1992, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed by the Parliament.
The 73rd Amendment is about the rural local governments, which are also known as Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
The 74th Amendment made the provisions relating to the urban local government (also known as Nagarpalikas).
The Supreme Court of India acts as the highest court of appeal in civil and criminal cases. It hears appeals against the decisions of the High Courts. However, the Supreme Court hears any case if it pleases to do so.
The Supreme Court has got jurisdiction to take up any dispute such as −
Between citizens of the country;
Between citizens and government;
Between two or more state governments; and
Between governments at the union and state level.
The Supreme Court and the High Courts are the custodian of our constitution. They have the power to interpret the Constitution of the country.
The Supreme Court can declare any law of the legislature or the actions of the executive unconstitutional if such a law or action is against the provisions of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has ‘Original Jurisdiction’. It means – some cases can be directly considered by the Supreme Court without going to the lower courts.
The Supreme Court has ‘Writ Jurisdiction’. It means - any individual, whose fundamental right has been violated, can directly go to the Supreme Court for appropriate remedy.
The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal (Appellate Jurisdiction). It means - a person can appeal to the Supreme Court against the decisions of the High Court.
The Supreme Court has ‘Advisory Jurisdiction’. It means - the President of India can refer any matter that is of public importance or involves interpretation of Constitution to Supreme Court for advice.
Article of 137 of the Constitution states that the Supreme Court shall have the power to review any judgment pronounced or order made by it.
Article 144 of the Constitution states that all authorities, civil and judicial, in the territory of India shall act in aid of the Supreme Court.
The chief instrument through which judicial activism has come into existence in India is Public Interest Litigation (PIL) or Social Action Litigation (SAL).
When a case is filed not by aggrieved people, but rather on their behalf, someone else, as it involves a consideration of an issue of public interest, hence, it is known as Public Interest Litigation (PIL) or Social Action Litigation (SAL).
The two most important rights of Judiciary are −
It can restore fundamental rights by issuing writs of Habeas Corpus; mandamus etc. under Article 32 of the Constitution and the same action can be taken by the High Courts as well under the Article 226 of Constitution.
Under Article 13 of the Constitution - the Supreme Court can declare the concerned law as unconstitutional and therefore non-operational.
The Judicial Review (JR) is one of the most important powers of the Supreme Court.
Judicial Review means the power of the Supreme Court to examine the constitutionality of any law; so, if the Court arrives at the conclusion that the aforesaid law is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution, such a law is declared as unconstitutional and inapplicable.
The Supreme Court (and the High Courts) has the power to check the Constitutional validity of any legislation or action of the executive, when it is challenged before them. This power is called judicial review.
The Supreme Court of India also guards the Constitution against any change in its basic principles by the Parliament.
The independence and powers exercised by the Indian judiciary in India make the Supreme Court to act as the guardian of the Fundamental Rights.
The Indian Constitution is based on a subtle principle of limited separation of powers and checks and balances, which means - each organ of the government has a clear area of functioning. For example,
The Parliament is supreme in making laws and amending the Constitution;
The Executive is supreme in implementing the laws; and
The judiciary is supreme in settling disputes and deciding whether the laws that have been made are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
In a landmark judgment of Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that there is a ‘Basic Structure’ of the Constitution and nobody — not even the Parliament (through amendment)— can violate the basic structure.
In Kesavananda Bharati case, the Supreme Court did two things −
It said that right to property was not part of the basic structure and therefore could be suitably amended.
The Court reserved to itself the right to decide whether various matters are part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
Federalism is an institutional mechanism to accommodate two sets of polities, i.e., first is the center or national level and second is at the provincial or regional level. Both the sets of polities are autonomous in its own sphere.
Each level of the polity has distinct powers and responsibilities and has a separate system of government.
The details of this federalism or dual system of government are generally found in a written constitution.
Written Constitution is considered to be supreme and also the source of the power of both sets of government.
Certain subjects, which are the concern of a nation as a whole, for example, defense or currency, are the responsibility of the union or central government.
On the other hand, regional or local matters are the responsibility of the regional or state government.
In case of a conflict between the center and the state on any issue, the judiciary has the powers to resolve the disputes.
Though the Indian Constitution does not use the word ‘federalism’ anywhere; however, the structure of Indian government is divided into two sets of governments i.e.
Article 257 of the Constitution is read as: The executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.
The Sarkaria Commission was appointed by the central government in 1983 to examine the issues relating to center-State relations; the Commission submitted its report in 1988 and recommended that appointments of Governors should be strictly non-partisan.
In 1953, the States Reorganization Commission was set up and it recommended the creation of linguistic States, at least for the major linguistic groups.
Resultantly, Gujarat and Maharashtra were created in 1960 and the process is still going on.
The Constitution of India (under Article 371) has given some special provisions for some States after considering their peculiar social and historical circumstances. However, most of the special provisions are related to the north eastern States (i.e. Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.) largely due to a sizeable indigenous tribal population with a distinct history and culture.
Under Article 370 of the Constitution, the northern most state Jammu and Kashmir has also special provisions.
One of the major differences between the other States and the State of J&K are that no emergency due to internal disturbances can be declared in J&K without the concurrence of the State.
The Union Government cannot impose a financial emergency in J&K and the Directive Principles also do not apply in J&K.
An amendment to the Indian Constitution (under Art. 368) can only apply in concurrence with the government of J&K.
Articles 255 to 263 describe Legislative relations.
Article 256 states that the executive power of every State shall be so exercised as to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament and any existing laws which apply in that State, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.
Article 257 (1) states that the executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.
Article 258 (2) states that a law made by Parliament which applies in any State may, notwithstanding that it relates to a matter with respect to which the Legislature of the State has no power to make laws, confer powers and impose duties, or authorize the conferring of powers and the imposition of duties, upon the State or officers and authorities thereof.
Article 261 (3) states that final judgments or orders delivered or passed by civil courts in any part of the territory of India shall be capable of execution anywhere within that territory according to law.
Article 262 (1) states that Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.
Article 262 (2) states that notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may be law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in clause (1).
Article 352 states that if the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or of any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or armed rebellion, he may, by Proclamation, make a declaration to that effect in respect of the whole of India or of such part of the territory thereof as may be specified in the Proclamation.
However, Article 352 (4) states that every Proclamation issued under this article shall be laid before each House of Parliament and shall, except where it is a Proclamation revoking a previous Proclamation, cease to operate at the expiration of one month unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolutions of both Houses of Parliament.
Further, Article 352 (5) states that a Proclamation so approved shall, unless revoked, cease to operate on the expiration of a period of six months from the date of the passing of the second of the resolutions approving the Proclamation under clause (4).
Article 353 states that while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, then the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of directions to any State as to the manner in which the executive power thereof is to be exercised.
Article 356 states that if the President, on receipt of a report from the Governor of a State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, then he (the President) may issue state emergency.
Article 356 (3) states that every Proclamation under this article shall be laid before each House of Parliament and shall, except where it is a Proclamation revoking a previous Proclamation, cease to operate at the expiration of two months unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolutions of both Houses of Parliament.
Further, Article 356 (4) states that a Proclamation so approved shall, unless revoked, cease to operate on the expiration of a period of six months from the date of issue of the Proclamation.
Article 357 states that where by a Proclamation issued under clause (1) of Article 356, it has been declared that the powers of the Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament.
Article 359 states that where a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, the President may by order declare that the right to move any court for the enforcement of such of the rights conferred by Part III (except articles 20 and 21) as may be mentioned in the order and all proceedings pending in any court for the enforcement of the rights so mentioned shall remain suspended for the period during which the Proclamation is in force or for such shorter period as may be specified in the order.
Every citizen of India has the right to vote to elect a representative as well as to be elected as a representative.
To provide a fair opportunity to a candidate belonging to weaker sections in an open electoral competition (against those who are influential and resourceful), a system of ‘reserved’ constituency is adopted.
The reserved system ensures equal opportunity to all and provides a real choice of election to the voters from weaker sections.
Some constituencies are reserved for the people belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in a proportion of their population in the respective regions.
In a reserved constituency, only the persons belonging to the reserved category are eligible to contest an election.
As on 1 September 2012, 84 seats were reserved for SC Category and 47 seats were reserved for ST Category in Lok Sabha.
Similarly, 33% of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.
The principle of a universal adult franchise is the foundation of the democracy that gives every citizen a right to have one vote and each vote should have equal value.
Every citizen of 18 years or more has the right to vote, irrespective of his caste, religion, gender, educational qualification, financial status, etc.
To ensure that not even a single person is denied of this basic right for any reason whatsoever, a list of all voters (eligible to vote) is prepared. This list is officially called as the Electoral Roll or the Voters’ List.
The voters’ list is provided to the voters of each constituency much before the election for the purpose of inspection and correction.
On the day of election, the people cast their votes as per their names mentioned in the voter list.
This method ensures that not a single person is denied his/her right to vote and thus everyone should get an equal opportunity to choose their representatives.
The government is responsible to update the voter’s list before the election; new names of all the eligible voters are added to the voters’ list and names of those who move out from their residential place or those who have been died are deleted.
A complete revision of the voter’s list takes place every five years.
| Schedules |
Parts |
Lists |
| Schedule I |
Part I |
List of the States. |
| Part II |
List of the Union. |
| Schedule II |
Part A |
Provisions as to the President and the Governors of States. |
| Part B |
Repealed |
| Part C |
Provisions as to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State. |
| Part D |
Provisions as to the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts. |
| Part E |
Provisions as to the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. |
| Schedule III |
|
Forms of Oaths or Affirmations. |
| Schedule IV |
|
Allocation of seats in the Council of States. |
| Schedule V |
|
Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. |
| Schedule VI |
|
Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. |
| Schedule VII |
List I |
Union List |
| List II |
State List |
| List III |
Concurrent List |
| Schedule VIII |
|
List of 22 Languages −
| 1. Assamese |
2. Bengali |
3. Gujarati |
| 4. Hindi |
5. Kannada |
6. Kashmiri |
| 7. Malayalam |
8. Marathi |
9. Oriya |
| 10. Punjabi |
11. Sanskrit |
12. Tamil |
| 13. Telugu |
14. Urdu |
15. Sindhi |
| 16. Konkani |
17. Manipuri |
18. Nepali |
| 19. Santhali |
20. Bodo |
21. Maithili |
| 22. Dogri |
|
|
Initially, there were only 14 languages, but after 21st Amendment (1967) Sindhi was added; after 71st Amendment (1992), Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali added; and after 92nd Amendment (2003), Santhali, Bodo, Maithili, and Dogri added.
|
| Schedule IX |
Added by 1st Amendment in 1951 |
Contains acts & orders related to land tenure, land tax, railways, industries (Right of property not a fundamental right). |
| Schedule X |
Added by 52nd Amendment in 1985 |
Provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection. |
| Schedule XI |
Added by 73rd Amendment in 1992 |
Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats. |
| Schedule XII |
Added by 74th Amendment in 1992 |
Powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities, etc. |
Among all the three Organs, no one is superior to the other, and one cannot control the other, in any manner, but rather all three Organs need to work in harmony.
Article 50 of the Constitution separates the Executive from the Judiciary.
Article 53 (1) states that the executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
Further, the President, being the executive head of the country, is also empowered to exercise legislative powers in certain condition (Article 123).
Article 73 (a) states that the Parliament has power to make laws; and (b) to the exercise of such rights, authority, and jurisdiction as are exercisable by the Government of India by virtue of any treaty or agreement.
The function of the Judiciary is to Review the action of the legislature and the Executive.
Further, Article 121 states that no discussion shall take place in Parliament with respect to the conduct of any Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court in the discharge of his duties except upon a motion for presenting an address to the President praying for the removal of the Judge as hereinafter provided.
Article 122 (1) states that the validity of any proceedings in the Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
However, there are some check and balance fabricated in the Constitution to balance the power among these three Organs.
| Part I |
The Union and its Territory |
Article (1 to 4) |
| Part II |
Citizenship |
Article (5 to 11) |
| Part III |
Fundamental Rights |
Article (12 to 35) |
| Part IV |
Directive Principles of State Policy |
Article (36 to 51) |
| Part IVA |
Fundamental Duties |
Article (51A) |
| Part V |
The Union |
Article (52 to 151) |
| Part VI |
The States |
Article (152 to 237) |
| Part VII |
The States in Part B of The First Schedule |
Article (238) |
| Part VIII |
The Union Territories |
Article (239 to 243) |
| Part IX |
Panchayats |
Article (243 to 243O) |
| Part IXA |
Municipalities |
Article (243P to 243ZG) |
| Part X |
The Schedule and Tribal Areas |
Article (244 to 244A) |
| Part XI |
Relations between the Union and the States |
Article (245 to 263) |
| Part XII |
Finance, Property, Contracts, and Suits |
Article (264 to 300A) |
| Part XIII |
Trade, Commerce, and Intercourse within the Territory of India |
Article (301 to 307) |
| Part XIV |
Service under the Union and the States |
Article (308 to 323) |
| Part XIVA |
Tribunals |
Article (323A to 323B) |
| Part XV |
Elections |
Article (324 to 329A) |
| Part XVI |
Special Provisions Relating to Certain Classes |
Article (330 to 342) |
| Part XVII |
Official Language |
Article (343 to 351) |
| Part XVIII |
Emergency Provisions |
Article (352 to 360) |
| Part XIX |
Miscellaneous |
Article (361 to 367) |
| Part XX |
Amendment |
Article (368) |
| Part XXI |
Temporary, Transitional, and Special Provisions |
Article (369 to 392) |
| Part XXII |
Short Title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals |
Article (393 to 395) |
In 1972, the Club of Rome, a global think tank, published a book titled as “Limits to Growth,” dramatizing the potential depletion of the Earth’s resources against the backdrop of swiftly growing world population.
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and other international and regional organizations began holding international conferences and promoting detailed studies to get a more coordinated and effective response to environmental problems, as it already became a significant issue of global politics.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992 (also known as the Earth Summit) was the beginning of international effort on global scale.
The Rio Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry, and recommended a list of development practices called ‘Agenda 21’.
First World, generally refer to the ‘global North’ were pursuing a different environmental agenda than the poor and developing countries of the Third World, called the ‘global South’.
Further, the Northern states are largely concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, the Southern states are anxious to address the relationship between economic development and environmental management.
Some critics however have pointed out that the Agenda 21 was biased in favor of economic growth rather than ensuring ecological conservation.
‘Commons’ in a global political sense are those resources, which are not owned by anyone, but rather shared by a community.
The areas or regions of the world, which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, and, therefore require common governance by the international community.
Examples of ‘global commons’ are the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor (and the high seas i.e. beyond the 200 nautical miles from the respective coast), and outer space.
For the global consensus, there have been many path-breaking agreements such as the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the 1987 Montreal Protocol, and the 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol.
However, a major problem underlying all ecological issues relates to the difficulty of achieving consensus on common environment.
The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also discussed that the parties should act to protect the climate system “on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”
Globalization has a strong historical basis, and it is important to view contemporary flows against this backdrop.
The technological advancement is one of the most major causes of globalization.
WTO and IMF though are the major players, but Economic globalization involves many other factors as well.
What is often called economic globalization usually involves greater economic flows among different countries of the world.
Many economists and other experts are worried that globalization is likely to benefit only a small section of the population while impoverishing those who were dependent on the government for jobs and welfare (education, health, sanitation, etc.).
It has been emphasized that the policy would ensure institutional safeguards or create ‘social safety nets’ to minimize the negative effects of globalization on those who are economically weak.
Many experts believe that the social safety net is not sufficient to safeguard the needs of economically weak class. This is the reason that some economists and other scholars describe the globalization as “re-colonization.” However, supporters argue that greater trade among countries allows each economy to do what it does best and benefits every class of economy.
As per the cultural perspective, globalization leads to the rise of a uniform culture or what is called as cultural homogenization. For example, ‘McDonaldization.’
Many of the politically active groups lost their faith in existing democratic institutions and electoral politics and some groups therefore chose to step outside of party politics and got engage in mass mobilization for registering their protests.
The middle class young activists launched service organizations and constructive programs among rural poor.
As these works were voluntary in nature (social work), many of these organizations came to known as voluntary organizations or voluntary sector organizations.
Since these voluntary organizations decided to remain outside of the politics and do not contest election; hence, they became popular as ‘non-party political formation.’
Dalit Panthers, a militant organization of the Dalit youth, was formed in Maharashtra in 1972.
In the post-independence period, Dalit groups were mainly fighting against the perpetual caste based inequalities and material injustices that they faced in spite of constitutional guarantees of equality and justice
In the 1980s, farmers’ dissension was also rising, which gave birth to farmers’ agitation against the government’s decision (especially increasing the electricity rate).
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) was one of the leading organizations (exclusively involved for the farmers’ movement) during the period of eighties.
Activities conducted by the BKU to pressurize the state through rallies, demonstrations, sit-ins, and jail bharo (courting imprisonment) agitations to get their demands accepted.
Dissented Fish workers, especially from Kerala, took the main responsibility of mobilizing fellow workers, including women workers from other States.
When the government’s deep sea fishing policy (1991) that opened up India’s waters to large commercial vessels including those of the multinational fishing companies came into existence, work of the National Fish Workers’ Forum (NFF) consolidated its first legal battle with the Union government successfully.
Another movement initiated by women was the movement against the sale of liquor/alcohol. Women in Nellore came together in spontaneous local initiatives to protest against arrack and forced closure of the wine shop.
In the 1988-89, Narmada Bachao Aandolan (NBA), a movement to save the Narmada, opposed the construction of these dams and questioned the nature of ongoing developmental projects in the country.
NBA continued a sustained agitation for more than twenty years and used every available democratic strategy to put forward its demands.
The movement for Right to Information (RTI) is commenced in 1990, when a mass-based organization called the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in Rajasthan took the initiative in demanding records of famine relief work and accounts of laborers.
The three major objectives of Nehru’s foreign policy were −
To preserve the hard-earned sovereignty,
To protect territorial integrity, and
To promote rapid economic development.
To achieve these three objectives, Pandit Nehru adopted the strategy of nonalignment.
Because of its nonalignment policy, in 1956, when Britain attacked Egypt over the Suez Canal issue, India led the world protest against this neo-colonial invasion.
However, while India was trying to convince the other developing countries about the policy of non-alignment, Pakistan joined the US-led military alliances.
Secondly, throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Nehru had been remained an ardent advocate of Asian unity.
The Afro-Asian conference that held in the Indonesian city of Bandung in 1955, commonly known as the Bandung Conference, recognized as the zenith of India’s engagement with the newly independent Asian and African nations.
Later, the Bandung Conference led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Pandit Nehru was the co-founder of the NAM.
Panchsheel was the joint effort under which, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, by the Indian Prime Minister Nehru and the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was signed on 29 April 1954 in the direction of stronger relationship between the two countries.
In spite of the ‘Panchsheel Agreement,’ between the period of 1957 and 1959, the Chinese occupied the Aksai-chin area and built a strategic road there.
Finally, China launched a swift and massive invasion in October 1962 on both the disputed regions i.e. Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin area in Jammu and Kashmir.
A long-term dispute between India and Pakistan about the sharing of river water was resolved through mediation by the World Bank. Resultantly, the India-Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty was signed by Nehru and General Ayub Khan in 1960.
An armed conflict between India and Pakistan began in 1965; at that time, Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister of India. The hostilities came to an end with the UN intervention.
Later, the-then Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan’s General Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Agreement in January 1966, and it was mediated by the Soviet Union.
Another important development of this period was the first nuclear explosion undertaken by India in May 1974.
When Communist China conducted nuclear tests in October 1964, the five nuclear weapon powers i.e. the US, the USSR, the UK, France, and China (the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council) tried to impose the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 on the rest of the world. However, India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it.
India conducted a series of nuclear tests in May 1998, demonstrating its capacity to use nuclear energy for military purposes.
Before the period of 1990, Russia was the important political friend of India, but after the period of 1990, Russia, though it continues to be an important friend of India, has lost its global preeminence and India’s pro-US policy started developing.
India’s foreign policy is always dictated by ideas of national interest.
