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Constitution of IndiaSubscribe to Constitution of India

For a National Common Market

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Assessing Indian Democracy

The Success of India’s Democracy edited by Atul Kohli; Princeton University Press, 2001; pp xiv + 298, Rs 695.

Report of Constitution Review Commission

The issues dealt with by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution are of the utmost importance and it is necessary that they are seriously debated nationwide with a sense of urgency but without the trappings of political posturing and rhetoric. In the absence of such an effort the commission's report is likely to meet with the same fate as the report of the Sarkaria Commission on centre-state relations which, again despite the importance of the subject dealt with, has been lying in the record rooms of the home ministry without any worthwhile action.

Utility of the Rajya Sabha

In several instances, the role of the Rajya Sabha has been reduced to an irrelevant adjunct of the Lok Sabha. While this may not have been the intention of the constituent assembly, the Rajya Sabha, as this article argues, needs to be recast in the light of present-day imperatives.

Panchayati Raj: The Way Forward

Those responsible for implementing economic reforms have unfortunately regarded panchayati raj as a sideshow. But not until economic reforms are integrated with planning and implementation through institutions of self-government will grass roots empowerment lead to grass roots development. This then is the right moment to ensure that both move together in tandem. Indeed panchayati raj needs to be made the fulcrum of the reform process.

Secularism in the Constituent Assembly Debates, 1946-1950

Secularism, it has been argued, failed to stem the spread of communalism in India, because its marginalising and contempt of religion bred a backlash on which communalism thrived. This article contends that this 'contempt for religion' was marginalised in the course of the secularism debates in the Constituent Assembly. The dominant position on secularism that a 'democratic' Constitution find place for religion as a way of life for most Indians triumphed over those who wished for the Assembly to grant only a narrow right to religious freedom, or to make the uniform civil code a fundamental right. These early discussions on religious freedom also highlight a paradox - it is precisely some of the advocates of a broad right to religious freedom who were also the most vociferous opponents of any political rights for religious minorities.

Local 'Self' Government and the Constitution

In a parliamentary system of government, urban and rural local bodies derive their powers, functions and responsibilities from the sate government legislations. This concept of a local self-government, or rather, local government, paves the way for a proper delineation of functions and powers of the latter, for the smooth flow of funds from state governments and also ensure community involvement in activities. It will thus help strengthen local bodies at the lowest level, rejuvenating a system that has lain dormant for two centuries.

Panchayats and Paper Laws

The inadequacy of legislative drafting has created a regime of paper laws for panchayats. These laws do not respond to the spirit of the 73rd amendment, and even where they do, they cannot be implemented because enabling rules and orders have not been framed.

Selfish Consensus

Enforcing the Constitution's Common Market Mandate

Considering the adverse implications for centre-state relations and the states' autonomy of the growing practice of attaching conditions to central grants to persuade states to implement fiscal and other economic policy reforms - quite apart from whether the conditions are likely to be effective at all - serious thought needs to be given to superior alternatives to enable the central government to discharge its constitutional responsibility to preserve the nationwide common market. And since the centre itself is quite often a party to measures that constrain free trade, it is all the more necessary to entrust the task of enforcing the Constitution's common market mandate to an independent authority such as that contemplated in Article 307.

Constitution Review Committee and the Governor

The role and position of the governor that has often been a subject of controversy and debate, now forms part of the deliberations of the Constitution Review Committee. Any redefinition, however, should adhere to the basic principles of the Indian Constitution, that seeks to achieve an ideal balance between federal and unitary principles.

The Right to Assembly

There is much misconception on the ambit and significance of the right to assemble and its intimate relationship to the right to free speech. The Supreme Court alone can remove the misconception. One hopes that it will do so before long and in the clearest terms for all to read and understand.

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