national

Directive Principles of State Policy

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An important feature of the constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy. Although the Directive Principles are asserted to be “fundamental in the governance of the country,” they are not legally enforceable. Instead, they are guidelines for creating a social order characterized by social, economic, and political justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity as enunciated in the constitution’s preamble.

Article 37 of the Constitution declares that the DPSP “shall not be enforceable 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.” It is not a mere coincidence that the apparent distinction that is drawn by scholars between the ICCPR rights and ESC rights holds good for the distinction that is drawn in the Indian context between fundamental rights and DPSP. Thus the bar to justiciability of the DPSP is spelled out in some sense in the Constitution itself.

The Directive Principles may be classified into 3 broad categories—

  1. Socialistic
  2. Gandhian and
  3. Liberal-intellectual.

(1) Socialistic Directives

Principal among this category of directives are (a) securing welfare of the people (Art. 38) (b) securing proper distribution of material resources of the community as to best sub serve the common-good, equal pay for equal work, protection of childhood and youth against exploitation. etc. (Art.39), (c) curing right to work, education etc. Art. (41), (d) securing just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief (Art. 42) etc.

(2) Gandhian Directives

Such directives are spread over several Arts. Principal among such directives are (a) to organize village panchayats (Art. 40), (b) to secure living wage, decent standard of life, and to promote cottage industries (Art.43), (c) to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to 14 years of age (Art. 45), (d) to promote economic and educational interests of the weaker sections of the people, particularly, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, (e) to enforce prohibition of intoxicating drinks and cow-slaughter and to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on scientific lines (Arts. 46-48).

(3) Liberal intellectual directives

Principal among such directives are (a) to secure uniform civil code throughout the country (Art.44), (b) to separate the judiciary from the executive (Art.50),  (c) to protect monuments of historic and national importance and  (d) to promote international peace and security.

Right To Service    

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Delivering public services in a time bound, decentralised and citizen friendly manner has been one of the major challenges facing the administration wing of the government.

 

Right to Public Services legislation in India comprises statutory laws which guarantee time-bound delivery of various public services rendered to citizens and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant if they are is deficient in providing the stipulated services. Hence, Right to Service legislation ensures delivery of time bound services to the public. If the concerned officer fails to provide the service in time, he will have to pay a fine. Thus, it is aimed to reduce corruption among the government officials and to increase transparency and public accountability.

 

Right to Service legislation are meant to reduce corruption among the government officials and to increase transparency and public accountability. Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to enact Right to Service Act on 18 August 2010 and Bihar was the second to enact this bill on 25 July 2011. Several other states like Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, HimachalPradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand have introduced similar legislation for effectuating the right to service to the citizen.

 

Our development as a nation is plagued by low literacy levels, poor health, high population, extreme poverty and corruption. In 2014 India ranked 85th out of 175 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index11 indicating there is a long way to go.

 

The three defining indicators that have emerged as main components of good governance, effectively reinforcing democratic principle

 

  1. Transparency and Accessibility: Transparency is described as the “characteristic of governments, companies, organisations and individuals of being open in the clear disclosure of information rules, plans, processes and actions”.

 

  1. Accountability and Timelines: Administrative transparency is a means to ensure accountability, reason the lack of it, and also highlight areas susceptible to corrupt practices, further ensuring that they are not overlooked. Accountability strategies which include checks and balances range from checking resource use, controlling expenditure, internal and external auditing processes, to monitoring mechanisms.

 

  1. Impact and Responsiveness of the Administration: The impact of the efficiency of the system can be gauged by people’s faith and confidence in the same. Citizens have become more articulate and aware and expect the administration to respond not merely to their demands but also anticipate them beforehand. The effectiveness and efficiency of an administration at any level, centre, state or local depends on fully responsive and representational people and institutions, as well as on prioritising service and legal mechanisms to correspond with needs of citizens.

 

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC), “Citizen Centric Administration: The Heart of Governance” endorsed the Sevottam framework and recommended its full implementation in Union and State Governments. Later in 2007, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended that Citizen’s Charters should stipulate penalties for non-compliance followed by The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice recommending giving statutory status to Grievance Redressal mechanisms, in 2008.

 

Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) In June 2007, the DARPG put in place a 24×7 online portal that links 89 ministries/departments/organisations as of now. This web-enabled solution called the CPGRAMS, sought to streamline and integrate the whole process. The CPGRAMS helps in filing, transferring, tracking and monitoring of complaints from both sides—the citizen, and the department-incharge—from any place and at any time.

 

 

The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011

 

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 20, 2011. The Bill was referred to the Department Related Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

19 States have Notified/Enacted the bill till yet.

 

The Bill refers to a ‘citizens charter’ which is a document that defines the standard of services to be provided by an entity. The citizens charter will also provide the time frame within which goods and services are to be provided.

  • The Bill requires all public authorities to appoint officers to redress grievances.  Grievances are to be redressed within 30 working days.  The Bill also provides for the appointment of Central and State Public Grievance Redressal Commissions.
  • A penalty of up to Rs 50,000 may be levied upon the responsible officer or the Grievance Redressal Officer for failure to render services.

 

The common framework of the legislations in various states includes, granting of “right to public services”, which are to be provided to the public by the designated official within the stipulated time frame. The public services which are to be granted as a right under the legislations are generally notified separately through Gazette notification. Some of the common public services which are to be provided within the fixed time frame as a right under the Acts, includes issuing caste, birth, marriage and domicile certificates, electric connections, voter’s card, ration cards, copies of land records, etc.

On failure to provide the service by the designated officer within the given time or rejected to provide the service, the aggrieved person can approach the First Appellate Authority. The First Appellate Authority, after making a hearing, can accept or reject the appeal by making a written order stating the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can order the public servant to provide the service to the applicant.

An appeal can be made from the order of the First Appellate Authority to the Second Appellate Authority, who can either accept or reject the application, by making a written order stating the reasons for the order and intimate the same to the applicant, and can order the public servant to provide the service to the applicant or can impose penalty on the designated officer for deficiency of service without any reasonable cause, which can range from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000 or may recommend disciplinary proceedings. The applicant may be compensated out of the penalty imposed on the officer. The appellate authorities has been granted certain powers of a Civil Court while trying a suit under Code of Civil Procedure.

Reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights and right to property

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Reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights and right to property

Fundamental Rights are the basic rights of the people and the charter of rights contained in Part III of Constitution of India. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace and harmony as citizens of India. These include individual rights common to most liberal democracies, such as equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, religious and cultural freedom and peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as habeas corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo Warranto.

Though the Constitution of India guarantees all these Fundamental rights for the citizen, yet there are some limitation and exceptions of these rights also. A citizen can not enjoy Fundamental Rights absolutely or at will.

Reasonable’ means that which is in accordance with reason, and which is associated with logic and not arbitrariness. It implies intelligent care and deliberation that which reason dictates. The expression “reasonable restriction” signifies that the limitation imposed on a person in the enjoyment of the right should not be arbitrary or of an excessive nature beyond what is required in the interest of the public.

Within some Constitutional limitation citizen can enjoy their Rights. The Constitution of India imposes some reasonable restrictions upon enjoyment of these Rights so, that public order, morality and health remain intact . The Constitution always aims at restoration of collective interest along with individual interest .For example, right to religion is subject to restrictions imposed by the state in the interest of public order, morality and health so, that the freedom of religion may not be abused to committee crimes or anti-social activities . Similarly Rights guaranteed by article-19 does not mean absolute liberty . Absolute individual rights can not be guaranteed by any modern state . There fore our Constitution also empowered the state to impose reasonable restrictions as may be necessary in the larger interest of the community . our Constitution always attempts “ to strike a balance between individual liberty and social control .” and to establish a welfare state where collective interest got prominence over individual interest .Freedom of speech and expression (Art.19-1-A) is also subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by the state relating to defamation, contempt of court, decency or morality, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states , incitement to an offence, public order, maintenance of the sovereignty and integrity of India . Freedom of assembly (Art.19-1-B) is also subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by the state that the assembly must be peaceful and without arms in the interest of public order. Freedom of press which is included in the wider freedom of expression is also subject to reasonable limitations and the state can impose restriction upon freedom of press in the larger interest of the state or for the prevention of contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.

Right to property

Property, as a legal and social institution, has different forms in different cultures and legal systems. However, only a definition of Constitutional property is common in all democratic countries. Since state exercises eminent domain power against private property, it is pertinent to discuss the concept of private property in brief. The institution of private property has been a controversial issue with conflicting views, one completely denying the right to own private property and the other supports the holding of the private property. However, the right to property is a natural and inherent right of an individual.

After independence, no Fundamental right has caused so much trouble and has given so much of litigation between the government and citizens as the property right. The reason is that the central and state governments have enacted massive hysteron of laws to regulate property rights. First, the government undertook to reconstruct the agrarian economy, interalia, by trying to confer right to property on tillers, abolition of zamindaris, giving security of tenure to tenants, fixing a ceiling limit on personal holding of agricultural land and redistributing the surplus land among the landless. Secondly, in the area of urban property, measures have been taken to provide housing to the people, clearance of slums and planning, control rents, acquire property and impose a ceiling on urban land ownership etc., Thirdly, government has undertaken to regulate private enterprises and nationalization of some commercial undertakings. These various legislative measures have been undertaken to effectuate accepted goal of establishing a socialistic pattern of society. Hence Articles 31 and 19(1)(f)  were repealed. Historical evolution and demise of repealed Articles 31 and 19(1)(f) are still relevant for the understanding of constitutional developments of property right. Since the commencement of the Constitution fundamental right conferred by Article 31 and Article 19(1)(f) has been modified by six times by the constitutional amendments. The first amendment added two explanatory Articles 31-A & 31-B to the Constitution; the fourth amendment amended clause (2) of Article 31, added clause (2A) to the same Article, inserted new provisions in Article 31-A and enlarged the ninth schedule; the seventeenth amendment further elaborated the definition of ‘estate’ in clause (2) of Article 31-A; and the twenty fifth amendment amended Article 31(2), added clause (2-B) and added a new Article 31-C. In the forty second amendment Article 31-C was substituted by the words “ the principles specified in clause (b) or clause (c) of the Article 39” for the words “all or any of the principles laid down in part IV of the Constitution”.

finally forty fourth amendment repealed the entire Article 31 and Article 19(1)(f) & inserted Article 300A.

Ninth Schedule – A Protective Umbrella

Article 31-B, does not by itself give any fundamental right. The Acts and regulations placed under ninth schedule shall not be deemed to be void or ever to have become void on the ground of its inconsistency with any fundamental right. In Kameshwar Singh 80 case, the Supreme Court said that no Act brought under the ninth schedule could be invalidated on the ground of violation of any fundamental rights.

With the introduction of the above amendment, it became very easy for the Government to acquire property and to carryout different agrarian reforms. Firstly the acquisition laws under the fear of being challenged were inserted in the ninth schedule by the constitutional amendments and thereby the concerned laws were made immune from challenge against any of the fundamental rights guaranteed under part III of the Constitution.

So for now right to property in india is a statutory right under the article 300A of Indian constitution.

 

Union Executive:-President,Vice President, Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers

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Union Executive:-President

The Union executive consists of the President, the Prime minister and the Council of ministers.

Powers and functions of The President of India

The President is the head of the Indian State. He is the first citizen of India and acts as the symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of the nation. Article 52 of our constitution provides for a President of India .

Article53 (1) says that the executive power of the union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either by directly or through officers subordinate to him in the constitution.

Article 53(2) declares the President as the supreme commander of the defence forces and exercise of his power would be regulated by law.

Executive Powers of President: The Constitution of India vests the executive powers of the Union in the President.

  • He/She appoints the Prime Minister, who is the leader of the majority party or group of parties having majority in the lower house, the Lok Sabha.
  • He/She also appoints other members of the Council of Ministers on the recommendations of the Prime Minister.
  • All executive actions of the Union must be expressed to be taken in the name of the President.
  • He/She also appoints Governors in the States, the Attorney General of India, the Comptroller and the Auditor General of India, the Ambassadors and High Commissioners as well as the Administrators of the Union Territories.
  • He/She also appoints the Chairman and Members of the Union Public Service Commission as well as the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
  • The President is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces and appoints the Chiefs of the three wings, Army, Airforce and Navy.

Legislative Powers of the President

  • President summons both the Houses of the Parliament for sessions.
  • President also prorogues the sessions.
  • President is also responsible for dissolving the Lok Sabha.
  • The first session of each year and the first session of newly elected Lok Sabha after the general elections begin with the address of the President.
  • President can nominate two members in the Lok Sabha belonging to the Anglo Indian community.
  • President has the power to send messages to the Parliament.
  • President can nominate 12 members to the Rajya Sabha.
  • President submits the reports of UPSC, Finance Commission etc. to the Parliament. the assent of the President. To introduce certain bills in the
  • No bill can become a law without Parliament, prior permission of the President is required. E.g. Money bills.
  • President possesses Veto power.
  • President has Ordinance making power under Article 123.

Financial Powers of The President

  • All money bills are introduced in the Lok Sabha only with the prior approval of the President.
  • The President has the control over Contingency Fund of India. It enables her to advance
    money for the purpose of meeting unforeseen expenses.
  • Annual budget and railway budget are introduced in the Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the President.
  •  The President appoints the Finance Commission after every five years. It makes recommendations to the President on some specific financial matters, especially the distribution of Central taxes between the Union and the States.
  • The President also receives the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, and has it laid in the Parliament.

Diplomatic Powers of The President:

  • The President has the power of appointing Indian Ambassadors to other countries
  • He receives ambassadors, High Commissions and diplomatic envoys from foreign Nations.
  • All treaties and international agreements are concluded in the name of the President.
  • The president represents India in International Conferences.

Judicial Powers of the President

  • The President, as head of state, can pardon a criminal or reduce the punishment or suspen cummute or remit the sentence of a criminal convicted by the Supreme Court or High Courts for an offence against the federal laws.
  • Presidents pardoning power comprises of Pardon, reprieve, remission, respite and commutation.
  • The President can pardon a person convicted by a Court Martial. His/her power of pardon includes granting of pardon even to a person awarded death sentence. But, the President performs this function on the advice of Law Ministry.
  • Advisory Jurisdiction under Article 143 also comes under judicial powers of the President.

Emergency Powers of the President:-

  • Article 352: Proclamation of Emergency – due to external intrusion or war the President of India can declare a state of emergency through a Proclamation. This Article suggests that such a Proclamation can be revoked or a varied Proclamation can also be issued. However, the decision of the Cabinet ministers to issue such a proclamation must be sent to the President in written form prior to his issuance of the same. According to the Article, all such Proclamations should be presented to both the Houses of the Parliament. The Proclamations, if not accepted by a resolution, will be counted as ineffective after one month. If the Proclamation is not accepted after the passing of a second resolution, then it will become ineffective after the expiry of 6 months of the second resolution. It is also mentioned in the Article that not less than two-thirds of the members of any of the Parliamentary Houses should be required to pass a resolution. There are certain rules specified in this Article regarding the President revoking or issuing a varied Proclamation during Emergency.
  • Article 353: Effect of Proclamation of Emergency – this Article states that the Proclamation of Emergency includes extending the executive power of the union to the states in the form of directions. The Parliament, as per this Article, can confer the power to make laws, upon the officers or authorities of the Union.
  •  Article 354: Application of provisions relating to distribution of revenues while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation – provisions made under Articles 268 to 279 can be modified or exceptions can be made by the President of India by an Order while the Proclamation period of emergency is going on. Information about all such Orders must be conveyed to both the Houses of Parliament.
  • Article 355: Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance – this Article states the fact that the Union or Center is solely responsible for defending the various states from all types of violence and aggressions erupting from outside and disturbances occurring within the nation’s territory.
  • Article 356: Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States – the President of India can take charge of a state if the reports submitted to him by the Governor suggest that the government of the state has become incapable of exercising the Constitutional powers. The President is also subjected to exercise the powers of the government of such state by Proclamation. The Proclamation issued under such circumstances become ineffective after 6 months from the date of issuance, if not revoked during this time period. All such Proclamations have to be presented to both the Houses of Indian Parliament and will expire after two months. The Legislative powers of such state shall also be exercised by the Parliament. In the Houses of Parliament there are certain rules and regulations regarding the expiry of the Proclamation and the time period normally depends upon the fact whether it has been revoked earlier or not.
  • Article 357: Exercise of legislative powers under Proclamation issued under article 356 – the powers of the Legislature shall be exercised by the Parliament during emergency. The Parliament has the right to delegate Legislative powers to the President of India or any such authority. The President of India, after the Proclamation of Article 356, can make laws and shall have access to the consolidated fund during the time period when the House of the People is not in operation.
  • Article 358: Suspension of provisions of article 19 during emergencies – any provision under Article 19 will not be effective during emergency and the states can make law and undertake executive action. However, only those laws and executive actions containing recital related to emergency during the Proclamation of Emergency are effective as per the Article.
  • Article 359: Suspension of the enforcement of the rights conferred by Part III during emergencies – the President of India can suspend all ongoing proceedings in any court of the nation during emergencies by an Order. The President can also call upon all pending court proceedings in case of emergencies. All such orders declaring the suspension of court proceedings have to be submitted to both the Houses of Parliament.
  • Article 360: Provisions as to financial emergency – a declaration shall be made by the President of India through a Proclamation regarding the financial crisis of the nation if such situation arises. Such a Proclamation can be revoked and has to be presented in both the Houses of the Parliament. The Proclamation thus issued will become null and void after two months if the same is not approved through a resolution passed by the Houses of Parliament. In case the Houses are not in session the Article suggests certain specific guidelines regarding the Proclamation. This Article also includes provisions relating to the salary and allowance reduction of those who are employed with Union and state departments. A provision relating to money bills and other financial bills passed by the state Legislature is mentioned in the Article. This provision states that all such bills have to be considered by the President during financial instability.

Vice President

Vice-President performs a dual role : (1) as Vice-President (2) as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha which means that whosoever is the Vice-President, he/she presides over the Rajya Sabha and performs normal duties of a presiding officer. These include maintenance of order in the House, allowing members to speak and ask questions, and putting bills and motions to vote.

He/She is elected by an electoral college which consists of the members of both Houses of the Parliament. He/She is

elected according to the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferrable vote, and the voting is by secret ballot.

The  Vice-President  can  be  removed  from  his  office  by  a  resolution  of  the  Rajya  Sabha passed by its members and agreed by Lok Sabha. At least fourteen days’ notice is necessary before such resolution is moved.

The Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha which means that whosoever is the Vice-President, he/she presides over the Rajya Sabha and performs normal duties of a presiding officer. These include maintenance of order in the House, allowing members to speak and ask questions, and putting bills and motions to vote. Since the Vice-President is not a member of the Rajya Sabha, he/she cannot vote in the House. But, in case of a tie (equality of votes in favour and against a bill), the Vice President exercises his/her casting vote so that a decision can be reached.

If ever a vacancy arises in the office of President, due to death, resignation or impeachment, the Vice-President officiates as the President for not more than six months (see above). During that period, he enjoys all powers of the President, and does not preside over the House when he officiates as President.

In case the President is temporarily unable to discharge his/her functions, the Vice-President may be called upon to discharge his/her functions, without becoming officiating President.

 

Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers

The executive powers of the President are exercised by the Council of Ministers. The Constitution provides that “there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the excercise of his functions”. Here the word “shall” indicates that the President cannot function without the Council of Ministers. The President is the constitutional head of State, but the real Head of the government is the Prime Minister.

The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government and, therefore, divides the executive into two parts: the nominal and real executive. The President of India is the nominal executive and the Council of Ministers is the real executive which works under the leadership of Prime Minister. Article 74, 75, and 78 of the constitution provide for provisions relating to the council of Ministers and the Prime Minister.

The  Prime  Minister  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  other  Ministers  shall  be appointed by the President upon the advice of the Prime Minister. The Ministers hold office during the  pleasure  of  the  President.  The  council  of  Ministers  shall  be  collectively  responsible  to  the  Lok  Sabha.   A minister  who  for  any  period  of  six  consecutive  months  is  not  a  member  of  the Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.

The Prime Minister being the head of the Council of Ministers, selects the Ministers to be sworn in by the President. The Ministers in fact are chosen by the Prime Minister and remain Ministers as long as they enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister distributes portfolios among Ministers. The President can change the portfolios as and when he desires. The Prime Minister can drop a Minister or ask for his/her resignation. The Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the Cabinet and conducts its proceedings. As head of the Cabinet, he/she largely influences the decisions of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister co-ordinates the working of various ministers.

The Prime Minister, as the leader of the Lok Sabha, is also the leader of the Parliament. In the  capacity  as  the  leader  of  the  majority  party  it  is  he  who  decides,  in  consultation  with  the Speaker, the complete agenda of the house. The summoning and proroguing of the house is decided upon by him. He can address each house of the Parliament but can vote only in the house to which he  belongs.  The  Prime  Minister  has  the  most  effective  power  to  ask  for  dissolution  of  the  Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister is the Ex-officio Chairman of the Planning Commission (Now NITI Ayog) as well as of the National Development Council. He/She represents the nation at the international conferences as the head of the government.

Constitution of India 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: Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.”

Fundamental Rights and Duties

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The Indian constitution originally provided 7 categories of fundamental rights. But one fundamental right, that to property was removed from the list of fundamental rights by 44th amendment. Right to property now is an ordinary legal right. Thus there are now 6 categories of fundamental rights. These are:

 (1) Right to equality (Arts. 14-18).

In this category there are five rights

  • Equality Before Law:- Equality before law is well defined under the Article 14 of the Constitution which ensures that every citizen shall be likewise protected by the laws of the country. It means that the State will not distinguish any of the Indian citizens on the basis of their gender, caste, creed, religion or even the place of birth. The state cannot refuse equality before the law and equal defense of the law to any person within the territory of India. In other words, this means that no person or groups of people can demand for any special privileges. This right not only applies to the citizens of India but also to all the people within the territory of India. Equality means that equals should be treated equally.
  • Abolition Of Discrimination On Grounds Of Caste, Race, Sex Or Religion:- The right of Social Equality and Equal Access to Public Areas is clearly mentioned under the Article 15 of the Constitution of India stating that no person shall be shown favoritism on the basis of color, caste, creed language, etc. Every person shall have equal admittance to public places like public wells, bathing ghats, museums, temples etc. However, the State has the right to make any special arrangement for women and children or for the development of any socially or educationally backward class or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. This article applies only to citizens of India.
  • Equality in public employment, Article 16 of the Constitution of India clearly mentions that the State shall treat everyone equally in the matters of employment. No citizen shall be discriminated on the basis of race, caste, religion, creed, descent or place of birth in respect of any employment or office under the State. Every citizen of India can apply for government jobs. However, there are some exceptions to this right. The Parliament may pass a law mentioning that specific jobs can only be filled by candidates who are residing in a particular area. This requirement is mainly for those posts that necessitate the knowledge of the locality and language of the area. Apart from this, the State may also set aside some posts for members of backward classes, scheduled castes or scheduled tribes which are not properly represented in the services under the State to uplift the weaker sections of the society. Also, a law may be passed which may entail that the holder of an office of any religious institution shall also be a person professing that specific religion. Though, this right shall not be granted to the overseas citizens of India as directed by the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003.
  • Abolition of untouchability, Article 17 of the Constitution of India abolishes the practice of untouchability in India. Practice of untouchability is declared as a crime and anyone doing so is punishable by law. The Untouchability Offences Act of 1955 (and now Protection of Civil Rights Act in 1976) states punishments for not allowing a person to enter a place of worship or from taking water from a well or tank.
  • Abolition of titles. Article 18 of the Constitution of India prohibits the State from granting any titles. Citizens of India are not allowed to accept titles from a foreign State. Titles like Rai Bahadurs and Khan Bahadurs given by the British government have also been abolished. Nevertheless, academic and military distinctions can be conferred upon the citizens of India. The awards of ‘Bharat Ratna’ and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ cannot be used by the beneficiary as a title and is not prohibited by the Constitution of India. From 15 December 1995, the Supreme Court has sustained the validity of such awards

 (2) Rights to freedom.

(Arts. 19-22) these now include six freedoms-

  • Freedoms of speech and expression,
  • Freedom of assembly without arms of association,
  • Freedom of movement,
  • Freedom of residence and
  • Freedom of profession oroccupation.

Each one of these six freedoms is subject to some restrictions. For rights can never be absolute. Individual rights must be reconciled with the interests of the community. It is logical that equal rights for all must mean limited rights for any. Hence, the state may impose ‘reasonable restrictions’ upon the exercise of any of these rights.

Restrictions

Firstly, the state may impose restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and expression on eight grounds. These are:

  1. defamation,
  2. contempt of court,
  3. decency or morality,
  4. security of the state,
  5. friendly relations with other states,
  6. incitement of offence and,
  7. sovereignty and
  8. integrity of India.

Secondly, the freedom to assemble is subject to two restrictions. The assembly must be peaceable and the members of assembly must not bear arms. However the Sikhs are allowed to carry ‘Kirpan’ as part of their religious creed. In the U.S.A. right to bear arms is fundamental right. In India, this right is denied in the interest of public order.

Thirdly, the right to form associations or unions does not entitle persons to enter into criminal conspiracy either against individuals, groups or against the state.

Fourthly, the right to move freely or to reside and settle in any part of India, does not cover trespass into homes or restricted areas. State also may restrict this freedom to protect the aboriginal tribes.

Finally, the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business are also subject to reasonable restrictions. Thus professions or, trade or, business must not be harmful to the interest of the community. The state may also prescribe qualifications for particular profession or, technical occupation. The state may itself carry on trade or business to the exclusion of citizens.

Power of Courts to enforce freedom of citizens of India

Every Indian citizen has the power to move the High Court or the Supreme Court for protecting and securing his personal freedom. The Courts are empowered to issue writs in the nature of habeas corpus. The courts can order the presence of detained or imprisoned person and set him free in case there is no legal justification for his detainment or imprisonment.

Rights to Freedom during National Emergency

The rights to freedom under Article 19 of Indian constitution are suspended during the period of National Emergency declared by the President of India.

Further, during the period when the National emergency is in operation, the President is empowered to suspend the right of citizens to move the Supreme Court for the enforcement of their personal freedom.

Conclusion

Each one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of India is hedged by many restrictions. They are not absolute. This led to the criticism that Indian freedom is a myth and not reality for what has been given with one hand has been taken away with the other.

This criticism is unfair. For fundamental rights can nowhere be absolute. For logically, one can be absolutely free only when all others are absolute, slaves Individual freedom to be real must be social and hence must be limited.

There is a difference in the scheme of limitations on fundamental rights in the U.S. constitution and in the constitution of India. In the U.S.A. the restrictions are not mentioned in the constitution itself. This is left to judicial interpretations. In India on the other hand, the restrictions are mentioned in the constitution itself. It is not left to the vagaries of judicial interpretation.

On the whole fundamental rights everywhere are restricted or, limited. As Mr. Justice Mukherji observed in A. K. Gopalan vs. State of Madras case” There cannot be any such thing as absolute or uncontrolled liberty wholly freed from restraints.”

These freedoms are however not without limitations.

(3) Rights against exploitation (Arts. 24 and 25)

Include prohibition of traffic in human beings and prohibition of child labour.

(4)  Rights to freedom of religion (Arts. 25-28)

Include  freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Citizens are free to profess and practice any religion. These provisions make India a secular state.

 (5) Cultural and Educational rights (Arts. 29-30)

Include right to protection of language, script and culture given to the minorities. The minorities are also given the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their own.

(6)   Right to constitutional remedies (Arts. 32-35)

Provides for enforcement of fundamental rights through the judicial process.Dr BR Ambedkar  expressed it to be the heart and soal of Indian constitution.

Thus the constitution contains an elaborate scheme of fundamental rights. But the fundamental rights in India are not absolute. They are hedged by many limitations. Indeed, fundamental rights cannot be absolute anywhere in the world. Countries differ only in their degree of limitations on fundamental rights.

Part IV-A was added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976. It encompasses Part IV, Article 51A enu­merating Ten Fundamental Duties of the Citizens of India.

There is no provision in the Constitution for direct enforcement of any of these Duties nor for any sanction to prevent their violation.But it may be expected that in determining the Consti­tutionality of any law, if a Court finds that it seeks to give effect to any of these duties, it may consider such law to ‘be reasonable’ in relation to Article 14 or 19, and thus save such law from unconstitutionality.

Lok Adalats and Legal Awareness Campaign

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LOK ADALATS

Lok stands for People and the word Adalat means Court. Lok Adalat is a special kind of people’s court in which disputes solved by direct talks between the litigants. The members of legal profession, college students, social organisations, charitable and philanthropic institutions and other similar organisations may be associated with Lok Adalat. Salient features of this dispute resolutions are participation,accomadation,fairness,expectations,voluntariness,neighbourliness,transparency and lack of animosity.Lok Adalat after studying the case, try to solve the simple differences which otherwise are likely to leave for reaching consequences through mutual understanding and compromise. The concept of Lok Adalat is an innovative Indian contribution to the world jurisprudence.

Ancient concept of settlement of dispute through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process known as ‘People’s court verdict’ or decision of ‘Nyaya-Panch’ is conceptualised instutionalised in the philosophy of Lok Adalat. The concept of Lok Adalat was pushed back into oblivion in last few centuries before independence and particularly during British regime.  Now this concept has been rejuvenated and became more popular amongst litigants. Camps of Lok Adalat were initially started in Gujarat in March 1982, and now it has been extended throughout the country. The evolution of this movement was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in the queue to get justice. And the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats pursuant to the Constitutional mandate in Art. 39-A of the Constitution of India, contains various provisions for settlements of dispute through Lok Adalat.

Levels of lok adalats

State Authority Level –  The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court or a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

High Court Level: The Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and any one or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

District Level: The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

Taluk Level: The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

National Lok Adalat:  National Level Lok Adalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day Lok Adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. From February 2015, National Lok Adalats are being held on a specific subject matter every month.

Permanent Lok Adalat: The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat, organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on all the parties. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties. The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements, speedy settlement of dispute etc.

Mobile lok adalat: Mobile lok adalat is new concept in which justice is delivered through van. The van consists of facilities like court compartments with basic amenities as well as microphone, computer, printer, seating arrangement for lawyers and the team, cabinet for the presiding officer, projector, internal and external address system, and generator among others.

Benefits of lok adalats

  • There is no court fee and even if the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat.
  • There is no strict application of the procedural laws and the Evidence Act while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat. The parties to the disputes though represented by their Advocate can interact with the Lok Adalat judge directly and explain their stands in the dispute and the reasons therefore, which is not possible in a regular court of law.
  • Disputes can be brought before the Lok Adalat directly instead of going to a regular court first and then to the Lok Adalat.
  • The decision of Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat whereas in regular courts of law there is always a scope to appeal to the higher forum on the decision of the trial court, which cause delay in the settlement of dispute finally. The reason being that in a regular court, decision is that of the court but in Lok Adalat it is mutual settlement and hence no case for appeal will arise. In every respect the scheme of Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost.

Legal awareness campaign

The growing number of issues, problems, unabated corruption and indecisiveness prevailed in our society that has given rise to demand support from the people of the country. Be it the legal, poverty, literacy, health, environment and many other issues – each cause is clamoring for public attention. Effort to get such attention, the governments and organizations has come together to devote to a particular cause so that awareness may be raised for the welfare of the society.

Understanding of the legal literacy and legal awareness is the need of the hour to deal with these uncertain problems existing and rising in the society. What it is, why it is important, and how we can promote it. Majority people of India are legal illiterate and not aware of the basic rights conferred upon them by law. Substantial population of the country living in the cities, towns and villages do not know what are their rights and entitlements under the law. Even the literate people are helpless and confused when there is a violation or infringement of a right enforceable in law.

Lack of knowledge about the basic legal and civil liberties, human rights, constitutional directives, and principles and other guidelines that protect the people’s dignity, liberty and freedom manifests itself in the society in the form of problems such as child labour, human trafficking, domestic violence, child marriage, dowry etc. that threatens the safety of all.   Therefore, the absence of the legal awareness in the society is mainly responsible for the deception, exploitation and deprivation of rights and benefits, from which the people suffer in the hands of state apparatus. The miserable condition in which the people find themselves can be alleviated to some extent by creating legal literate and legal awareness amongst the people. At this backdrop, legal literacy and legal awareness assume critical significance.

 

Constitutional and legal provisions for legal awareness

In 1987, the Legal Services Authorities Act (LSAA) was enacted by the Parliament which came into force on 9th November, 1995 with an object to establish a nationwide uniform network for providing free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society on the basis of equal opportunity. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the LSAA, 1987 to monitor and evaluate implementation of legal services available under the Act.   This Act was passed with the affirmed objective of fulfilling one of the Directive Principles of State Policy enunciated in Article 39A of the Constitution of India. Under it, the Constitution of India provides for 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.

Under the Articles 14 and 22(1) also provide that it’s the obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice is made available to the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society.   In every State, State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State. The State Legal Services Authority is headed by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority. And in every District, District Legal Services Authority has been constituted to implement Legal Services Programmes in the District.

 

Role of NALSA in legal awareness and legal aid

  • Legal Aid Counsel Scheme to provide meaningful legal assistance to under trial prisoners, who feel handicapped in their defense on account of lack of resources or other disabilities and cannot engage a counsel to defend them.
  • Counseling and Conciliation Scheme to encourage the settlement of disputes by way of negotiations and conciliation.
  • Supreme Court Middle Income Group Scheme to provide legal services to the middle income class citizens, i.e., citizens whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 2 lakh.
  • The NALSA organizes Judicial colloquium to create a forum for ongoing regional cooperation among Judges focusing on Human Rights and Access to Justice.
  • Victims Assistance Program (VAP) has been prepared by the NALSA target the most disadvantaged, distraught vulnerable and victimized population.

Political Parties and Pressure Groups

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Political Parties and Elections Political parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct of elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties. Although many candidates for Indian elections are independent, the winning candidates for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of political parties, and opinion polls suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather than a particular candidate.

Political parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct of elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties. Although many candidates for Indian elections are independent, the winning candidates for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of political parties, and opinion polls suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather than a particular candidate. Parties offer candidates organisational support, and by offering a broader election campaign, looking at the record of government and putting forward alternative proposals for government, help voters make a choice about how the government is run.

Political parties have to be registered with the Election Commission. The Commission determines whether the party is structured and committed to principles of democracy, secularism and socialism in accordance with the Indian Constitution and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Parties are expected to hold organisational elections and have a written constitution.

According to certain criteria, set by the Election Commission regarding the length of political activity and success in elections, parties are categorised by the Commission as National or State parties, or simply declared registered-unrecognised parties. How a party is classified determines a party’s right to certain privileges, such as access to electoral rolls and provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations – All India Radio and Doordarshan – and also the important question of the allocation of the party symbol. Party symbols enable illiterate voters to identify the candidate of the party they wish to vote for. National parties are given a symbol that is for their use only, throughout the country. State parties have the sole use of a symbol in the state in which they are recognised as such Registered-unrecognised parties can choose a symbol from a selection of ‘free’ symbols.

Pressure groups are those informal organisations that come into existence for the protection of special interests and influence the activities of the government by different methods.

Pressure groups are not primarily political in nature. For example, although Rashtriya Swayamak Sangh (RSS) supports the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is, by and large, a cultural organization. The political parties are basically political. Pressure groups do not seek direct power; they only influence those who are in power for moulding decisions in their favour. The political parties seek power to form the government. Pressure groups do not contest elections; they only support political parties of their choice. Political parties nominate candidates, contest elections, and participate in election campaigns.  Pressure groups do not necessarily have political ideologies. Political parties are always wedded to their ideologies. For example, the Congress party is wedded to the ideologies of socialism, secularism and democracy; the Communists advocate the interests of workers, peasants and other weaker sections. The interests of the pressure groups are usually specific and particular, whereas the political parties have policies and programmes with national and international ramifications.

Planning commission and national development council

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Planning commission and national development council

Planning commission

The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India’s Five-Year Plans, among other functions.

Background

Rudimentary economic planning, deriving from the sovereign authority of the state, was first initiated in India in 1938 by Congress President and Indian National Army supreme leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had been persuaded by Meghnad Saha to set up a National Planning Committee. M. Visvesvaraya had been elected head of the Planning Committee. Meghnad Saha approached the great engineer and requested him to step down. He argued that planning needed a reciprocity between science and politics. M. Visvesvaraya generously agreed and Jawaharlal Nehru was made head of the National Planning Committee.The so-called “British Raj” also formally established a planning board that functioned from 1944 to 1946. Industrialists and economists independently formulated at least three development plans in 2012. Some scholars have argued that the introduction of planning as an instrument was intended to transcend the ideological divisions between Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru. Other scholars have argued that the Planning Commission, as a central agency in the context of plural democracy in India, needs to carry out more functions than rudimentary economic planning.

After India achieved Independence, a formal model of planning was adopted, and accordingly the Planning Commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India, was established on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the Chairman. Authority for creation of the Planning Commission was not derived from the Constitution of India or statute; it is an arm of the Central Government of India.

Composition of commission

The composition of the Commission underwent considerable changes since its initiation. With the Prime Minister as the ex officio Chairman, the committee had a nominated Deputy Chairman, with the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios acted as ex officio members of the Commission, while the full-time members were experts in various fields like economics, industry, science and general administration.  Ex officio members of the Commission included the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Information Technology Minister, Law Minister, Human Resource Development Minister and Minister of State for Planning.

The Commission worked through its various divisions, of which there were two kinds:

  • General Planning Divisions
  • Programme Administration Divisions

Functions

  • To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personal, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting those are related resources which are found to be deficient in relation to the nation’s requirement.
  • To formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilisation of country’s resources.
  • To define the stages, on the basis of priority, in which the plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage.
  • To indicate the factors that tend to retard economic development.
  • To determine the conditions which need to be established for the successful execution of the plan within the incumbent socio-political situation of the country.
  • To determine the nature of the machinery required for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the plan in all its aspects.
  • To appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the plan and also recommend the adjustments of policy and measures which are deemed important vis-a-vis a successful implementation of the plan.
  • To make necessary recommendations from time to time regarding those things which are deemed necessary for facilitating the execution of these functions. Such recommendations can be related to the prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures or development programmes. They can even be given out in response to some specific problems referred to the commission by the central or the state governments.

In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to dissolve the Planning Commission. It has since been replaced by a new institution named NITI Aayog.

National development council

The National Development Council (NDC) or the Rashtriya Vikas Parishad is the apex body for decision making and deliberations on development matters in India, presided over by the Prime Minister. It was set up on 6 August 1952 to strengthen and mobilize the effort and resources of the nation in support of the Plan, to promote common economic policies in all vital spheres, and to ensure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country. The Council comprises the Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, representatives of the Union Territories and the members of the NITI Aayog.  It is an extra-constitutional and non-statutory body.

Objectives

  • To secure cooperation of the states in the execution of the plan.
  • To strengthen and mobilize the effort and resources of the nation in support of the Plan.
  • To promote common economic policies in all vital spheres.
  • To ensure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country.

Functions

  • To prescribe guidelines for the formulation of the National Plan, including the assessment of resources for the Plan.
  • To consider the National Plan as formulated by the NITI Aayog.
  • To make an assessment of the resources that are required for implementing the Plan and to suggest measures for augmenting them.
  • To consider important questions of social and economic policy affecting national development; and to review the working of the Plan from time to time.
  • To recommend such measures as are necessary for achieving the aims and targets set out in the National Plan.
  • To recommend measures for achievement of the aims and targets set out in the national Plan.

Railway,Roades And Ports of India

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Railway,Roades And Ports of India

Impact on The Indian economy

The Indian Railways contributes to India’s economic development, accounting for about one per cent of the GNP and the backbone of freight needs of the core sector. It accounts for six per cent of the total employment in the organised sector directly and an additional 2.5 per cent indirectly through its dependent organisations.

Road transport is the second important mode of transport in India. It covers every corner of the country which the railway transport even could not cover. Road transport provides the basic infrastructural facilities to both the agricultural and industrial sector of the country.

Some of the important socio- economic benefits of ports are:

 

  • Fuels economic development – They are important links of hinterlands to points overseas. They facilitate movement of goods to and from hinterland. They increase international trade ( both exports and import).

 

  • Development of cities – Most of the world’s major cities are port cities. Ports spur the economic activities around them like banking, finance, Insurance, logistic etc.

 

  • Increase in Employment  –Ports increase employment both directly and indirectly. Direct employment refers to employment in port related activities. Indirect employment increases due to increased industrialization and increase in other services like banking and insurance.

 

  • Relatively Environment friendly –When compared to other transportation systems, railway transportation requires twice as much energy consumption, while road transportation requires ten times as much as sea conveyance.

 

  • Increase world Economic Integration –Globalization has been partially successful due to cheap transportation facilitated by ports.

 

  • Development of Infrastructure – Increase the economic activity between hinterland and ports lead to development of infrastructure including railways, roads & inland waterways.

 

Indian Railway

Introduction

Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest railway network consists of freight, passengers, tourist, Suburban rail systems, toy train and luxury trains. IR has 4,337 operating railway stations,operates on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones and Locomotives are consist of electric and diesel locomotives.

  1. Project Planning and Implementation
  2. Indian Railways entered the Billion Club in freight loading in 2012-13 by achieving 1,008 million tonnes of originating loading. The loading target fixed for 2014-15 is 1,105 million tonnes which is 4.9% higher than the achievement of 2013-14. The XIIth Plan projections of freight loading in the terminal year of the Plan (2016-17) are 1,405 million tonnes.
  3. Indian Railways carried 8,425.6 million passengers in 2013-14 which is about 1,430 million higher than the population of the world put together. The annual target for passenger traffic in 2014-15 is 8,645 million, which is 2.6% higher than in 2013-14. The XIIth Plan target is 11,710 million passengers in the terminal year of the Plan.

The Challenges

  1. As the growth in the economy picks up in the years to come, IR will have a challenging task ahead because of line and terminal capacity constraints in transporting the incremental traffic. Therefore, there is need for significant investment in the network, especially the HDN routes and its feeder and other important routes

 

2.There is a large shelf of pending projects which is estimated at Rs. 4,91,510 crore on the basis of originally estimated costs Of these, fund requirement for the prioritized works such as doubling, new lines, gauge conversion, traffic facilities, signal & telecom works, workshops and electrification is estimated at Rs 2,08,054 crore

Budget 2017

  1. A Rail safety fund with a corpus of Rs 100,000 crore will be created over a period of 5 years

    2. The service charge on rail tickets booked through IRCTC will be withdrawn.

    3. As many as 500 rail stations will be made differently abled-friendly by providing lifts and escalators.

    4. Steps will be taken to launch dedicated trains for pilgrimage and tourism

    5. A new metro rail policy will be announced+. This is expected to open up new jobs for the youth

    6. At least 25 train stations are expected to be awarded during 2017-18

    7. By 2019, all coaches of the Indian railwayswill be fitted with bio-toilets

 

  1. Railways will integrate end to end transport solutions for selected commodities through partnerships

 

  1. Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by 2020

 

  1. A 22% rise in the Railway Budget was announced

 

Structure of IR’s finances:

 

The structure of IR’s finances is such that they are divided into revenue and capital expenditures.While revenue expenditure takes care of the day to day and operational working expenses, inclusive of debt servicing and dividend payment, capital expenditures take care of IR’s investments inclusive of repair and renewals. There are three streams that comprise capital expenditure; these are Gross Budgetary Support from the Ministry of Finance, internal generation of resources and leasing from IRFC.

Indian Roads

Introduction

 

India has the second largest road network across the world at 4.7 million km. This road network transports more than 60 per cent of all goods in the country and 85 per cent of India’s total passenger traffic. Road transportation has gradually increased over the years with the improvement in connectivity between cities, towns and villages in the country.

 

Key Investments/Developments

1.The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) has been           awarded a contract to build five all-weather access tunnels worth Rs 23,000 crore (US$ 3.57 billion) in Jammu and Kashmir by 2024.

2.Abertis Infraestructuras SA, a Spanish infrastructure firm, has agreed to buy two toll road assets in operation in South India from Macquarie Group for Rs 1,000 crore(US$ 150 million) to scale up its presence in India

Ports of India

 

Introduction

 

The nine coastal Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and  West Bengal are home to all major and minor ports of India. The long coastline of India forms one of the biggest piece of land into a body of water,These twelve major Indian Ports are handle a large volume of cargo traffic and container traffic. There are total 13 major sea ports of India,out of 12 are government and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. Ennore Port is one of the major port of India located at Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu state along with Kakinada Port and private Krishnapatnam Port and Mundra Port

 

 

 

Key Policy Development

 

1:No approval required for foreign equity up to 51 per cent in projects providing supporting

services to water transport

 

2:Automatic approval of foreign equity up to 100 per cent in construction and maintenance of ports and harbours. However, the proposal needs to be referred to FIPB for investments exceeding Rs 15 billion.

 

3: Open tenders to be invited for private sector participation on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis

 

4: Permission granted for formation of joint ventures between Major Ports and foreign ports, Major Ports and Non-Major Ports, and Major Ports and companies

 

Challenges:

  1. Geograhical: Heavy silting as seen in riverine ports like Haldia.
  2. Technological: Inadequate dredging capacities. Poor mechanization and manual handling of critical processes Eg in Paradip port
  3. Infrastructural: Congestion of roads connecting the port leading to time delays as seen in JLN port Underutilization of physical infrastructure of the ports Eg in Cochin port.
  4. Policy and regulatory issues: Currently the ports operate on “Trust Model” where government is the owner and operator of the port. Non-uniform tariff structure (TAMP) which makes some ports uncompetitive High turnaround time is as much as 3-4 days compared to average time of 6-7hrs in other developed ports because of cumbersome documentation and clearance.

 

 

Salient Features of Indian Constitution

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  • Lengthiest written Constitution: Originally our constitution contained 395 articles divided in 22 parts and 8 schedules. Constitution has been amended 98 times. Currently there are 25 Parts, 12 Schedules, and 448 Articles. These figures show our constitution as the most comprehensive constitution in the world. (British have no written constitution and Constitution of USA had originally only 7 articles)
  • Starts with a Preamble: It gives an insight into the Philosophy of the Constitution.
  • Drawn from different sources: fundamental rights from USA, bicameralism from UK, Fundamental duties from USSR etc,
  • Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility: making Law is quite flexible and easy in comparison to amending a law.
  • Sovereignty of the Country: managing internal and external affairs freely without any external forces.
  • Democratic state: governing power is derived from the people by means of elected representatives of the people.
  • Republic: India does not have a hereditary post of Head of the State. The Head of the state in India is President and he / she is elected.
  • Socialist State: Indian socialism is democratic socialism. The goals of the socialism are to be realized through democratic means.
  • Secular state: India is secular country. Here No religion is a state religion. The constitution provides equal treatment to all religions.
  • Parliamentary Form of Government: Westminster model of government. Presence of nominal and real executives, majority party rule, collective responsibility of executive to legislature, dissolution of lower house, prime minister has crucial and important role.
  • A blend of Federal and Unitary System: there are separate governments in the Union and States and there is division of power. Unitary features: Strong centre. Single Citizenship, single constitution for both the centre and states, emergency provisions, all India services. India is also quasi-federal as constitution describes India as union of states. States cannot unjoin as well as there is no agreement by states. We have union as well as state lists.
  • Integrated and independent Judiciary: The states have high courts but the verdicts of these courts are subject to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Constitution has made the High Courts subordinate to the Supreme Court.
  • Universal Adult Franchise: Every citizen who is above 18 years has a Voting Right without any discrimination.
  • Three tier government structure: union, state and panchayats.
  • Synthesis of parliamentary sovereignty and judicial supremacy: judicial review of Supreme Court by procedure established by law. Also, parliament can amend major portion of constitution.
  • Fundamental rights: to promote political democracy. Enforceable by courts for violation. They are Justiciable in nature.
  • Fundamental duties: to respect constitution; to promote national unity, integrity, sovereignty; to preserve rich cultural heritage and promote common brotherhood. They are not justiciable in nature.
  • Directive principles of state policy: socialistic, liberal and gandhian meant for promoting ideal social and economic democracy. To establish welfare state. It is the duty of state to apply these in governance. They are not justiciable.
  • Independent bodies: constitution not only provides legislative, executive and judicial organs of government (state and centre) but also has independent election commission, CAG, UPSC, SPSC with security of tenure, service conditions.