CONTENT

S.NO. CLASS PAGE NO.

POLITY
1. CLASS- IX 1-23

DEMOCRATIC POLITICS-I

2. CLASS- X 1-23

DEMOCRATIC POLITICS-II

3. CLASS- XI 1-43

INDIAN CONSTITUTION AT WORK

ECONOMICS
4. CLASS-X 1-11

UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
DEVELOPMENT
5. CLASS- XI 1-31

INDIAN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
6. CLASS- XII 1-33

INTRODUCTORY
MICROECONOMICS
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS
7. CLASS- XII 1-17
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
POLITICS

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End of Colonialism
Class- IX
Democratic Politics- I  For a very long time most countries in Asia
and Africa was colonies under the control of
European nations.
CHAPTER I
 Many of these countries became democracies
Democracy in the Contemporary World
immediately after the end of WW2 in 1945.
Democracy is a form of government that allows  India got Independence- 1947
people to choose their rulers.  Ghana used to be a British colony named Gold
Coast.(Independent- 1957)
In a democracy-
Recent phase
 Only leaders elected by people should rule the
country, and  1980- democracy was revived in several
 People have the freedom to express views, countries of Latin America
freedom to organise and freedom to protest.  Poland and several other countries became
free from the control of the Soviet Union
PHASES IN THE EXPANSION OF DEMOCRACY during 1989-90.
 Soviet Union itself broke down in 1991. The
French Revolution (1789)
Soviet Union comprised 15 Republics
 French Revolution inspired many struggles  Pakistan and Bangladesh made a transition
for democracy all over Europe from army rule to democracy in 1990s
 The right to vote was granted to more and  In 2008, Pakistan became democratic again
more people and Nepal emerged as a democratic republic
after abolishing the monarchy.
American Revolution-
Story of Myanmar-
 British colonies in North America declared
themselves independent in 1776  Myanmar, previously known as Burma.
 In the next few years these colonies came  Gained freedom from colonial rule in 1948
together to form the United States of America. and became a democracy.
 Adopted a democratic constitution in 1787.  But the democratic rule ended in 1962 with a
 19th century struggles for democracy often military coup.
centred round political equality, freedom and  In 1990 elections were held for the first time
justice after almost 30 years.
 Challenge- right for every adult citizen to vote;  The National League for Democracy (NLD),
Often women did not have the right to vote. led by Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Soo-
 In USA, the blacks all over the country could chi), won the election.
not exercise the right to vote until 1965.  But the military leaders of Myanmar refused
 Those struggling for democracy wanted this to step down and did not recognise the
right granted universally to all adults — men election results.
or women, rich or poor, white or black.  Instead, the military put the elected pro-
 This is called ‘universal adult franchise’ or democracy leaders, including Suu Kyi, under
‘universel suffrage’. house arrest.
 Anyone caught publicly airing views or issuing
statements critical of the regime can be
sentenced up to twenty years in prison.
 Due to the coercive policies of the military-
ruled government in Myanmar, about 6 to 10

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lakh people in that country have been
uprooted from their homes and have taken
shelter elsewhere.
 Despite being under house arrest, Suu Kyi
continued to campaign for democracy.
 Finally, under her leadership, the NLD fought
the historic 2015 elections and a democratic
republic was established.

United Nations (UN) World Bank-

 The UN is a global association of nations of  Also gives loans to the governments.

the world to help cooperation in international  Before lending they ask the concerned
law, security, economic development and government to show all its accounts and
social equity. direct it to make changes in its economic
 The UN Secretary General is its chief policy.
administrative officer.  The President of the World Bank has
always been a citizen of the US,
conventionally nominated by the Treasury
Secretary (Finance Minister) of the US
UN Security Council government.
 Organ of the UN, is responsible for maintaining
peace and security among countries.
 It can put together an international army and
take action against the wrongdoer.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)-

 Lends money to governments when they need it

 One of the biggest moneylenders for any
country in the world.
 Its 189 member states (as on 12 April 2016) do
not have equal voting rights.
 The vote of each country is weighed by how
much money it has contributed to the IMF.
 More than 40% of the voting power in the IMF
is in the hands of only seven countries (US,
Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy and
Canada).
 The remaining 182 countries have very little say
in how these international organisations take
decisions.

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CHAPTER 2 4) Elected leaders do not know the best interest

of the people. It leads to bad decisions.
What is Democracy? Why
5) Democracy leads to corruption for it is based
Democracy? on electoral competition.
6) Ordinary people don’t know what is good for
Democracy is based on a fundamental principle
them; they should not decide anything.
of political equality.
Arguments for democracy
That gives us the third feature of democracy: in a
democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote  China’s famine- 1958-1961- ~ 3crore people
and each vote must have one value. died in this famine.
One person, One vote, One value-  During those days, India’s economic condition
was not much better than China.
 Until 2015, in Saudi Arabia women did not  Yet India did not have a famine of the kind
have the right to vote. China had.
 Estonia has made its citizenship rules in such  Economists think that this was a result of
a way that people belonging to Russian different government policies in the two
minority find it difficult to get the right to countries.
vote.  The existence of democracy in India made the
 In Fiji, the electoral system is such that the Indian government respond to food scarcity in
vote of an indigenous Fiji has more value than a way that the Chinese government did not.
that of an Indian-Fijian.  They point out that no large-scale famine has
ever taken place in an independent and
Merits of Democracy democratic country.
 If China too had multiparty elections, an
1) A democratic government is better form of
opposition party and a press free to criticise
government because it is more accountable
the government, then so many people may not
form of government.
have died in the famine
2) Democracy improves the quality of decision
making. Rule of law and respect for rights
3) Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens.
4) Poor and least educated has the same status as  Zimbabwe attained independence from White
the rich and educated. minority rule in 1980.
5) Democracy allows us to correct our own  Since then the country has been ruled by
mistake ZANU-PF, the party that led the freedom
6) A democracy requires that the rulers have to struggle. Its leader,
attend to the needs of the people.  Robert Mugabe ruled the country since
7) A democratic government is a better independence.
government because it is a more accountable  Elections were held regularly and always won
form of government by ZANU-PF. President Mugabe was popular
but also used unfair practices in elections.
Arguments against democracy
 Over the years his government changed the
1) Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This constitution several times to increase the
leads to instability. powers of the President and make him less
2) Democracy is all about political competition accountable.
and power play. There is no scope for  Opposition party workers were harassed and
morality. their meeting disrupted.
3) So many people have to be consulted in a  Public protests and demonstrations against
democracy that it leads to delays. the government were declared illegal.

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 There was a law that limited the right to  Democracy provides the only peaceful
criticise the President. solution to this problem.
 Television and radio were controlled by the  Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens.
government and gave only the ruling party’s  Finally, democracy is better than other forms
version. of government because it allows us to correct
 There were independent newspapers but the its own mistakes.
government harassed those journalists who  It offers better chances of a good decision; it is
went against it. likely to respect people’s own wishes and
 The government ignored some court allows different kinds of people to live
judgments that went against it and together.
pressurised judges. He was forced out of office  Even when it fails to do some of these things,
in 2017. it allows a way of correcting its mistakes and
offers more dignity to all citizens.
Why democracy should lead to better decisions
 That is why democracy is considered the best
than any non-democratic government?
form of government.
 Democracy is based on consultation and
discussion.
 A democratic decision always involves many
persons, discussions and meetings.
 When a number of people put their heads
together, they are able to point out possible
mistakes in any decision. This takes time.
 It reduces the chances of rash or irresponsible
decisions.
 Thus democracy improves the quality of
decision-making.
 Democracy provides a method to deal with
differences and conflicts.
 In any society people are bound to have
differences of opinions and interests.
 These differences are particularly sharp in a
country like ours which has an amazing social
diversity.
 People belong to different regions, speak
different languages, practise different
religions and have different castes.
 They look at the world very differently and
have different preferences.
 The preferences of one group can clash with
those of other groups. The conflict can be
solved by brutal power.
 Whichever group is more powerful will dictate
its terms and others will have to accept that.
 But that would lead to resentment and
unhappiness.
 Different groups may not be able to live
together for long in such a way.

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CHAPTER 3  They could not even visit the churches where

CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN the whites worshipped.
 Blacks could not form associations or protest
DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION IN SOUTH against the terrible treatment.
AFRICA-  Since 1950, the blacks coloured and Indians
fought against the apartheid system.
 This was Nelson Mandela, being tried for
 They launched protest marches and strikes.
treason by the white South African
 The African National Congress (ANC) was the
government.
umbrella organisation that led the struggle
 He and seven other leaders were sentenced to
against the policies of segregation.
life imprisonment in 1964 for daring to
 This included many workers’ unions and the
oppose the apartheid regime in his country.
Communist Party.
Struggle against apartheid  Many sensitive whites also joined the ANC to
oppose apartheid and played a leading role in
 Apartheid was the name of a system of racial this struggle.
discrimination unique to South Africa.  Several countries denounced apartheid as
 The white Europeans imposed this system on unjust and racist.
South Africa.  But the white racist government continued to
 During 17th& 18th centuries, the trading rule by detaining, torturing and killing
companies from Europe occupied it with arms thousands of black and coloured people
and force, in the way they occupied India.
 But unlike India, a large number of ‘whites’ Towards a new constitution
had settled in South Africa and became the
 As protests and struggles against apartheid
local rulers.
had increased, the government realised that
 The system of apartheid divided the people
they could no longer keep the blacks under
and labelled them on the basis of their skin
their rule through repression.
colour.
 The white regime changed its policies.
 The native people of South Africa are black in
 Discriminatory laws were repealed.
colour.
 Ban on political parties and restrictions on the
 They made up about three-fourth of the
media were lifted.
population and were called ‘blacks’.
 After 28 years of imprisonment, Nelson
 Besides these two groups, there were people of
Mandela walked out of the jail as a free man.
mixed races who were called ‘coloured’ and
 Finally, at the midnight of 26 April 1994, the
people who migrated from India.
new national flag of the Republic of South
 The white rulers treated all non- whites as
Africa was unfurled marking the newly born
inferiors. The non-whites did not have voting
democracy in the world.
rights.
 The apartheid government came to an end,
 The apartheid system was particularly
paving way for the formation of a multi-racial
oppressive for the blacks. They were forbidden
government.
from living in white areas.
 After the emergence of the new democratic
 They could work in white areas only if they
South Africa, black leaders appealed to fellow
had a permit.
blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities
 Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools
they had committed while in power.
and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres,
 The party that ruled through oppression and
beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were
brutal killings and the party that led the
all separate for the whites and blacks. This
freedom struggle sat together to draw up a
was called segregation.
common constitution.

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 After two years of discussion and debate they  These rules also determine what the elected
came out with one of the finest constitutions governments are empowered to do and what
the world has ever had. they cannot do.
 This constitution gave to its citizens the most  Finally these rules decide the rights of the
extensive rights available in any country. citizen.
 Together, they decided that in the search for a  These rules will work only if the winner
solution to the problems, nobody should be cannot change them very easily.
excluded; no one should be treated as a  This is what the South Africans did. They
demon. agreed on some basic rules.
 They agreed that everybody should become  They also agreed that these rules will be
part of the solution, whatever they might have supreme, that no government will be able to
done or represented in the past. ignore these.
 The preamble to the South African  This set of basic rules is called a constitution.
Constitution sums up this spirit.  Every country has diverse groups of people.
 The South African constitution inspires  All over the world people have differences of
democrats all over the world. opinion and interests.
 Whether democratic or not, most countries in
Why we need a Constitution?
the world need to have these basic rules.
 The South African example is a good way to  This applies not just to governments.
understand why we need a constitution and  Any association needs to have its constitution.
what do constitutions do.  Constitution of a country is a set of written
 The oppressor and the oppressed in this new rules that are accepted by all people living
democracy were planning to live together as together in a country.
equals.  Constitution is the supreme law that
 The black majority was keen to ensure that the determines the relationship among people
democratic principle of majority rule was not living in a territory (called citizens) and also
compromised. ‘ the relationship between the people and
 They wanted substantial social and economic government.
rights.
A constitution does many things:
 The white minority was keen to protect its
privileges and property. 1) First, it generates a degree of trust and
 After long negotiations both parties agreed to coordination that is necessary for different
a compromise. kind of people to live together;
 The whites agreed to the principle of majority 2) Second, it specifies how the government will
rule and that of one person one vote. be constituted, who will have power to take
 They also agreed to accept some basic rights which decisions;
for the poor and the workers. 3) Third, it lays down limits on the powers of the
 The blacks agreed that majority rule would government and tells us what the rights of the
not be absolute. citizens are; and
 They agreed that the majority would not take 4) Fourth, it expresses the aspirations of the
away the property of the white minority. people about creating a good society
 The only way to build and maintain trust in 5) All countries that have constitutions are not
such a situation is to write down some rules of necessarily democratic.
the game that everyone would abide by. 6) But all countries that are democratic will
 These rules lay down how the rulers are to be have constitutions.
chosen in future.

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7) After the War of Independence against Great  Thus some basic values were accepted by all
Britain, the Americans gave themselves a leaders much before the Constituent Assembly
constitution. met to deliberate on the Constitution.
8) After the Revolution, the French people  The British rule had given voting rights only
approved a democratic constitution. to a few.
9) Since then it has become a practice in all  Elections were held in 1937 to Provincial
democracies to have a written constitution. Legislatures and Ministries all over British
India.
MAKING OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
 These were not fully democratic governments.
 At that time the people of India were  But the experience gained by Indians in the
emerging from the status of subjects to that of working of the legislative institutions proved
citizens. to be very useful for the country in setting up
 The country was born through a partition on its own institutions and working in them.
the basis of religious differences.  That is why the Indian constitution adopted
 The British had left it to the rulers of the many institutional details and procedures
princely states to decide whether they wanted from colonial laws like the Government of
to merge with India or with Pakistan or India Act, 1935.
remain independent.  Many of our leaders were inspired by the
 The merger of these princely states was a ideals of French Revolution, the practice of
difficult and uncertain task. parliamentary democracy in Britain and the
 The makers of the constitution had anxieties Bill of Rights in the US.
about the present and the future of the  The socialist revolution in Russia had inspired
country. many Indians to think of shaping a system
based on social and economic equality.
The path to Constitution
The Constituent Assembly
 Our national movement was not merely a
struggle against a foreign rule.  The drafting of the document called the
 It was also a struggle to rejuvenate our constitution was done by an assembly of
country and to transform our society and elected representatives called the Constituent
politics. Assembly.
 Elections to the Constituent Assembly were
 There were sharp differences of opinion
held in July 1946.
within the freedom struggle about the path
 First meeting was held in December 1946.
India should take after Independence.
 Soon after, the country was divided into India
 As far back as in 1928, Motilal Nehru and
and Pakistan.
eight other Congress leaders drafted a
 The Constituent Assembly was also divided
constitution for India.
into the Constituent Assembly of India and
 In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session
that of Pakistan.
of the Indian National Congress dwelt on how
 The Constituent Assembly that wrote the
independent India’s constitution should look
Indian constitution had 299 members.
like.
 The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26
 Both these documents were committed to the
November 1949 but it came into effect on 26
inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to
January 1950.
freedom and equality and to protecting the
 To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as
rights of minorities in the constitution of
Republic Day every year.
independent India.
 Constituent Assembly represented the people
of India.

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 There was no universal adult franchise at that Philosophy of the Constitution
time.
 So the Constituent Assembly could not have  Values that inspired and guided the freedom
been chosen directly by all the people of India. struggle and were in turn nurtured by it,
 It was elected mainly by the members of the formed the foundation for India’s democracy.
existing Provincial Legislatures that we  These values are embedded in the Preamble of
mentioned above. the Indian Constitution.
 This ensured a fair geographical share of  They guide all the articles of the Indian
members from all the regions of the country. Constitution.
 The Assembly was dominated by the Indian  The Constitution begins with a short
National Congress, the party that led India’s statement of its basic values. This is called the
freedom struggle. Preamble to the constitution.
 But the Congress itself included a variety of  Taking inspiration from American model,
political groups and opinions. most countries in the contemporary world
 The Assembly had many members who did have chosen to begin their constitutions with a
not agree with the Congress. preamble.
 In social terms too, the Assembly represented
members from different language groups, Preamble
castes, classes, religions and occupations.
 Drafting Committee- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
 More than two thousand amendments were
considered.
 The members deliberated for 114 days spread
over three years.

The Dream and the Promise

Mahatma Gandhi.

 He was not a member of the Constituent

Assembly. Yet there were many members who
followed his vision.
 Years ago, writing in his magazine Young
India in 1931, he had spelt out what he
wanted the Constitution to do

Dr. Ambedkar

 This dream of an India that has eliminated

inequality was shared by Dr. Ambedkar, who WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA
played a key role in the making of the
Constitution but he had a different The constitution has been drawn up and enacted
understanding of how inequalities could be by the people through their representatives, and
removed. not handed down to them by a king or any outside
 He often bitterly criticised Mahatma Gandhi powers
and his vision.
SOVEREIGN

 People have supreme right to make decisions

on internal as well as external matters.

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 No external power can dictate the government  The government should ensure equal
of India. opportunity for all.

SOCIALIST FRATERNITY

 Wealth is generated socially and should be  All of us should behave as if we are members
shared equally by society. of the same family.
 Government should regulate the ownership of  No one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior
land and industry to reduce socio-economic
inequalities Institutional design

SECULAR  A constitution is mainly about embodying

these values into institutional arrangements.
 Citizens have complete freedom to follow any  It is a very long and detailed document.
religion.  Therefore it needs to be amended quite
 But there is no official religion. regularly to keep it updated. Those who
 Government treats all religious beliefs and crafted the Indian Constitution felt that it has
practices with equal respect. to be in accordance with people’s aspirations
and changes in society.
DEMOCRATIC  They made provisions to incorporate changes
from time to time.
 A form of government where people enjoy  These changes are called constitutional
equal political rights, elect their rulers and amendments.
hold them accountable.  The Constitution describes the institutional
 The government is run according to some arrangements in a very legal language.
basic rules.
It puts limits to what the government can do by
REPUBLIC providing some rights to the citizen that cannot be
violated.
The head of the state is an elected person and not
a hereditary position.

JUSTICE

 Citizens cannot be discriminated on the

grounds of caste, religion and gender.
 Social inequalities have to be reduced.
 Government should work for the welfare of
all, especially of the disadvantaged groups.

LIBERTY

There are no unreasonable restrictions on the

citizens in what they think; how they wish to
express their thoughts and the way they wish to
follow up their thoughts in action.

EQUALITY

 All are equal before the law.

 The traditional social inequalities have to be
ended.

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CHAPTER 4  Elections are held in all constituencies at the

same time, either on the same day or within a
few days.
Electoral Politics  This is called a general election.
 Sometimes election is held only for one
There is a requirement of mechanism by which
constituency to fill the vacancy caused by
people can choose their representatives at regular
death or resignation of a member.
intervals and change them if they wish to do so.
 This is called a by-election.
This mechanism is called election.
Electoral constituencies
Therefore, elections are considered essential in
 In our country we follow an area based system
our times for any representative democracy.
of representation.
A simple list of the minimum conditions of a  The country is divided into different areas for
democratic election: purposes of elections.
 These areas are called electoral constituencies.
1) First, everyone should be able to choose. This
 The voters who live in an area elect one
means that everyone should have one vote and
representative.
every vote should have equal value.
 For Lok Sabha elections, the country is
2) Second, there should be something to choose
divided into 543 constituencies.
from. Parties and candidates should be free to
 The representative elected from each
contest elections and should offer some real
constituency is called a Member of Parliament
choice to the voters.
or an MP.
3) Third, the choice should be offered at regular
 One of the features of a democratic election is
intervals. Elections must be held regularly
that every vote should have equal value.
after every few years.
4) Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people  Similarly, each state is divided into a specific
should get elected. number of Assembly constituencies.
5) Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free  In this case, the elected representative is
and fair manner where people can choose as called the Member of Legislative Assembly or
they really wish. an MLA.
 Each Parliamentary constituency has within it
In an election the voters make many choices: several assembly constituencies.
 The same principle applies for Panchayat and
 They can choose who will make laws for them.
Municipal elections.
 They can choose who will form the
 Each village or town is divided into several
government and take major decisions.
‘wards’ that are like constituencies.
 They can choose the party whose policies will
 Each ward elects one member of the village or
guide the government and law making.
the urban local body.
WHAT IS OUR SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS?  Sometimes these constituencies are counted
as ‘seats’, for each constituency represents one
 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) seat in the assembly.
elections are held regularly after every five
years. Reserved Constituencies
 After five years the term of all the elected
representatives comes to an end.  Some constituencies are reserved for people
 The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and
‘dissolved’. Scheduled Tribes [ST].

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 In a SC reserved constituency only someone LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCIES

who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can
stand for election.  TOTAL CONSTITUENCIES 543
 GENERAL 412
 Similarly only those belonging to the
 RESERVED (SC) 84
Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from
 RESERVED (ST) 47
a constituency reserved for ST.
 Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are
 In the last few years a new system of Election
reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for
Photo Identity Card [EPIC] has been
the Scheduled Tribes (as on 1 September
introduced.
2012).
 The government has tried to give this card to
 This number is in proportion to their share in
every person on the voters list.
the total population.
 The voters are required to carry this card
 Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not
when they go out to vote, so that no one can
take away the legitimate share of any other
vote for someone else.
social group.
 But the card is not yet compulsory for voting.
 This system of reservation was extended later
to other weaker sections at the district and  For voting, the voters can show many other
local level. proofs of identity like the ration card or the
driving licence.
 In many states, seats in rural (Panchayat) and
urban (municipalities and corporations) local Nomination of candidates
bodies are now reserved for Other Backward
Classes (OBC) as well.  Anyone who can be a voter can also become a
 However, the proportion of seats reserved candidate in elections.
varies from state to state.  minimum age- 25 years
 Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved  There are some other restrictions on criminals
in rural and urban local bodies for women etc.
candidates.  Political parties nominate their candidates
who get the party symbol and support.
Voters’ list
 Party’s nomination is often called party
 In a democratic election, the list of those who ‘ticket’.
are eligible to vote is prepared much before  Every person who wishes to contest an
the election and given to everyone. election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and
 This list is officially called the Electoral Roll give some money as ‘security deposit’.
and is commonly known as the Voters’ List.  Recently, a new system of declaration has
 Purpose- everyone should get an equal been introduced on direction from the
opportunity to choose representatives. Supreme Court.
 Principle of universal adult franchise- In Every candidate has to make a legal declaration,
practice it means that everyone should have giving full details of:
one vote and each vote should have equal
value. a) Serious criminal cases pending against the
 In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years candidate;
and above can vote in an election. b) Details of the assets and liabilities of the
 Some criminals and persons with unsound candidate and his or her family; and
mind can be denied the right to vote, but only c) Education qualifications of the candidate. This
in rare situations. information has to be made public.

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This provides an opportunity to the voters to any big policy decisions or make any promises
make their decision on the basis of the of providing public facilities.
information provided by the candidates.
Polling and counting of votes
Election Campaign
 The final stage of an election is the day when
 In our country such campaigns take place for the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote.
a two-week period between the announcement  That day is usually called the election day.
of the final list of candidates and the date of  Every person whose name is on the voters’ list
polling. can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’, situated
 During this period the candidates contact usually in a local school or a government
their voters, political leaders address election office.
meetings and political parties mobilise their  Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM)
supporters. are used to record votes.
 This is also the period when newspapers and  The machine shows the names of the
television news are full of election related candidates and the party symbols.
stories and debates.
 But election campaign is not limited to these Demerits of electoral competition
two weeks only.
 It creates a sense of disunity and ‘factionalism’
 Political parties start preparing for elections
in every locality.
months before they actually take place.
 Different political parties and leaders often
 In election campaigns, political parties try to
level allegations against one another.
focus public attention on some big issues.
 Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to
 They want to attract the public to that issue
win elections.
and get them to vote for their party on that
 Some people say that this pressure to win
basis.
electoral fights does not allow sensible long-
According to our election law, no party or term policies to be formulated.
candidate can:
Let us look at some of the successful slogans given
 Bribe or threaten voters; by different political parties in various elections.
 Appeal to them in the name of caste or
 The Congress party led by Indira Gandhi gave
religion;
the slogan of Garibi Hatao (Remove poverty)
 Use government resources for election in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971. The party
campaign; and promised to reorient all the policies of the
 Spend more than Rs. 25 lakh in a constituency government to remove poverty from the
for a Lok Sabha election or Rs. 10 lakh in a country.
constituency in an Assembly election.
 Save Democracy was the slogan given by
 In addition to the laws, all the political parties Janata Party under the leadership of
in our country have agreed to a Model Code of Jayaprakash Narayan, in the Lok Sabha
Conduct for election campaigns. election held in 1977. The party promised to
According to this, no party or candidate can: undo the excesses committed during
Emergency and restore civil liberties.
 Use any place of worship for election  The Left Front used the slogan of Land to the
propaganda; Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections
 Use government vehicles, aircrafts and held in 1977. ‘Protect the Self-Respect of the
officials for elections; and Telugus’ was the slogan used by N. T. Rama
 Once elections are announced, Ministers shall Rao, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party in
not lay foundation stones of any projects, take Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983.
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In a democracy it is best to leave political parties  Very often elections offer little choice to
and candidates free to conduct their election ordinary citizens, for both the major parties
campaigns the way they want to. But it is are quite similar to each other both in policies
sometimes necessary to regulate campaigns to and practice.
ensure that every political party and candidate  Smaller parties and independent candidates
gets a fair and equal chance to compete. suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger
parties.
Independent Election Commission

 The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is

appointed by the President of India.
 But once appointed, the Chief Election
Commissioner is not answerable to the
President or the government.
 Even if the ruling party or the government
does not like what the Commission does, it is
virtually impossible for it to remove the CEC.
 EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct
and control of elections from the
announcement of elections to the declaration
of results.
 It implements the Code of Conduct and
punishes any candidate or party that violates
it.
 During the election period, the EC can order
the government to follow some guidelines, to
prevent use and misuse of governmental
power to enhance its chances to win elections,
or to transfer some government officials.
 When on election duty, government officers
work under the control of the EC and not the
government.

Challenges to free and fair elections

 A few candidates may win purely on the basis

of money power and unfair means.
 But the overall verdict of a general election
still reflects popular preference.
 There are very few exceptions to this rule in
the last fifty years in our country.
 In some parts of the country, candidates with
criminal connection have been able to push
others out of the electoral race and to secure a
‘ticket’ from major parties.
 Some families tend to dominate political
parties; tickets are distributed to relatives
from these families.

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CHAPTER 5  Only persons who belong to backward classes

Working of Institutions were eligible for this quota of 27 per cent jobs.
 President is the head of the state
Need for Political Institutions  Prime Minister is the head of the government
 To attend to all the tasks, several and actually exercises all governmental
arrangements are made in all modern powers.
democracies. Such arrangements are called  He takes most of the decisions in the Cabinet
institutions. meetings.
 A democracy works well when these
institutions perform functions assigned to Parliament
them. Why do we need a Parliament?
 The Constitution of any country lays down
basic rules on the powers and functions of  In all democracies, an assembly of elected
each institution. In the example above we saw representatives exercises supreme political
several such institutions at work. authority on behalf of the people.
 The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are  In India such a national assembly of elected
institutions that take all important policy representatives is called Parliament.
decisions.  At the state level this is called Legislature or
 The Civil Servants, working together, are Legislative Assembly.
responsible for taking steps to implement the  The name may vary in different countries, but
ministers’ decisions. such an assembly exists in every democracy.
 Supreme Court is an institution where
disputes between citizens and the government It exercises political authority on behalf of
are finally settled. the people in many ways:

HOW IS A MAJOR POLICY DECISION  Parliament is the final authority for making
TAKEN? laws in any country.
 Parliaments all over the world can make new
 A Government Order On August 13, 1990, the laws, change existing laws, or abolish existing
Government of India issued an Order. It was laws and make new ones in their place.
called an Office Memorandum.
 Parliaments all over the world exercise some
 The Joint Secretary, an officer in the
control over those who run the government.
Department of Personnel and Training in the
 Parliaments control all the money that
Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievances and
governments have.
Pensions, signed the Order.
 Parliament is the highest forum of discussion
 The order said that 27 per cent of the
and debate on public issues and national
vacancies in civil posts and services under the
policy in any country.
Government of India are reserved for the
 President+ two Houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya
Socially and Educationally Backward Classes
Sabha)
(SEBC).
 The Prime Minister must have the support of
 SEBC is another name for all those people
who belong to castes that are considered
backward by the government.
 The benefit of job reservation was till then
available only to Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.
 Now a new third category called SEBC was
introduced.

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Other Backward Class (OBC)

 The Government of India had appointed the Two Chambers or Houses-

Second Backward Classes Commission in
 One House is usually directly elected by the
1979.
people and exercises the real power on behalf
 It was headed by B.P. Mandal. Hence it was
of the people.
popularly called the Mandal Commission.
 It was asked to determine the criteria to  The second House is usually elected indirectly
identify the socially and educationally and performs some special functions.
backward classes in India and recommend  The most common work for the second House
steps to be taken for their advancement. is to look after the interests of various states,
 One of these was that 27 per cent of regions or federal units.
government jobs be reserved for the socially  In our country, the Parliament consists of two
and educationally backward classes. Houses.
 For several years, many parliamentarians  The two Houses are known as the Council of
and parties kept demanding the States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the
implementation of the Commission’s People (Lok Sabha).
recommendations.  The President of India is a part of the
 Then came the Lok Sabha election of 1989. Parliament, although she is not a member of
 In its election manifesto, the Janata Dal either House.
promised that if voted to power, it would  That is why all laws made in the Houses come
implement the Mandal Commission report. into force only after they receive the assent of
 The Janata Dal did form the government the President.
after this election.  Our Constitution does give the Rajya Sabha
 Its leader V. P. Singh became the Prime some special powers over the states.
Minister.
 Protest held after the final decision of But on most matters, the Lok Sabha exercises
government related to Mandal Commission. supreme power-
This case was known as the ‘Indira
1) Any ordinary law needs to be passed by both
Sawhney and others Vs. Union of India
the Houses. But if there is a difference
case’.
between the two Houses, the final decision is
 Eleven judges of the Supreme Court heard
taken in a joint session in which members of
arguments of both sides.
both the Houses sit together. Because of the
 By a majority, the Supreme Court judges in
larger number of members, the view of the
1992 declared that this order of the
Lok Sabha is likely to prevail in such a
Government of India was valid.
meeting.
 At the same time the Supreme Court asked
2) Lok Sabha exercises more powers in money
the government to modify its original order.
matters. Once the Lok Sabha passes the
It said that well-to do persons among the
budget of the government or any other money
backward classes should be excluded from
related law, the Rajya Sabha cannot reject it.
getting the benefit of reservation.
The Rajya Sabha can only delay it by 14 days
 Accordingly, the Department of Personnel
or suggest changes in it. The Lok Sabha may
and Training issued another Office
or may not accept these changes.
Memorandum on September 8, 1993.
3) Most importantly, the Lok Sabha controls the
 The dispute thus came to an end and this
Council of Ministers.
policy has been followed since then.

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 Only a person who enjoys the support of the  The Prime Minister is free to choose
majority of the members in the Lok Sabha is ministers, as long as they are members of
appointed the Prime Minister. Parliament.
 If the majority of the Lok Sabha members say  Sometimes, a person who is not a Member of
they have ‘no confidence’ in the Council of Parliament can also become a minister.
Ministers, all ministers including the Prime  But such a person has to get elected to one of
Minister, have to quit. The Rajya Sabha does the Houses of the Parliament within six
not have this power months of appointment as minister.

Political and Permanent Executive Council of Ministers-

 In a democratic country, two categories make  Council of Ministers is the official name for
up the executive. the body that includes all the Ministers.
 One that is elected by the people for a specific  It usually has 60 to 80 Ministers of different
period is called the political executive. ranks.
 Political leaders who take the big decisions fall  Cabinet Ministers are usually top-level leaders
in this category. of the ruling party or parties who are in charge
 In the second category, people are appointed of the major ministries.
on a long-term basis. This is called the  Usually the Cabinet Ministers meet to take
permanent executive or civil services. decisions in the name of the Council of
 Persons working in civil services are called Ministers.
civil servants. They remain in office even  Cabinet is thus the inner ring of the Council of
when the ruling party changes. Ministers.
 These officers work under political executive  It comprises about 20 ministers.
and assist them in carrying out the day-to-day  Ministers of State with independent charge
administration. are usually in-charge of smaller Ministries.
 They participate in the Cabinet meetings only
Prime Minister and Council of Ministers when specially invited.
 The President appoints the Prime Minister.  Ministers of State are attached to and required
to assist Cabinet Ministers.
 But the President cannot appoint anyone she
likes.  Every ministry has secretaries, who are civil
servants.
 The President appoints the leader of the
majority party or the coalition of parties that  The secretaries provide the necessary
commands a majority in the Lok Sabha, as background information to the ministers to
Prime Minister. take decisions.
 In case no single party or alliance gets a  The Cabinet as a team is assisted by the
majority, the President appoints the person Cabinet Secretariat.
most likely to secure a majority support.  This includes many senior civil servants who
 The Prime Minister does not have a fixed try to coordinate the working of different
tenure. ministries.
 He continues in power so long as he remains Powers of the Prime Minister
the leader of the majority party or coalition.
 After the appointment of the Prime Minister,  He chairs Cabinet meetings.
the President appoints other ministers on the  He coordinates the work of different
advice of the Prime Minister. Departments.
 The Ministers are usually from the party or  His decisions are final in case disagreements
the coalition that has the majority in the Lok arise between Departments.
Sabha.
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 He exercises general supervision of different  The President is the supreme commander of
ministries. the defence forces of India.
 All ministers work under his leadership.  President exercises all these powers only on
 The Prime Minister distributes and the advice of the Council of Ministers.
redistributes work to the ministers.  The President can ask the Council of Ministers
 He also has the power to dismiss ministers. to reconsider its advice.
 When the Prime Minister quits, the entire  But if the same advice is given again, she is
ministry quits. bound to act according to it.
 In recent years the rise of coalition politics has  Similarly, a bill passed by the Parliament
imposed certain constraints on the power of becomes a law only after the President gives
the Prime Minister. assent to it.
 The Prime Minister of a coalition government
 If the President wants, she can delay this for
cannot take decisions as he likes.
some time and send the bill back to the
 He has to accommodate different groups and
Parliament for reconsideration.
factions in his party as well as among alliance
 But if the Parliament passes the bill again, she
partners.
has to sign it.
 He also has to heed to the views and positions
of the coalition partners and other parties, on The Presidential System
whose support the survival of the government
depends.  Presidents all over the world are not always
nominal executives like the President of India. In
The President many countries of the world, the President is both
the head of the state and the head of the
 While the Prime Minister is the head of the government.
government, the President is the head of the  The President of the United States of America is the
State. most well-known example of this kind of President.
 The President supervises the overall  The US President is directly elected by the people.
He personally chooses and appoints all Ministers.
functioning of all the political institutions in
The law making is still done by the legislature
the country so that they operate in harmony to
(called the Congress in the US), but the president
achieve the objectives of the State.
can veto any law.
 The President is not elected directly by the  Most importantly, the president does not need the
people. support of the majority of members in the Congress
 The elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and neither is he answerable to them.
and the elected Members of the Legislative  He has a fixed tenure of four years and completes it
Assemblies (MLAs) elect her. even if his party does not have a majority in the
 All governmental activities take place in the Congress.
name of the President.  This model is followed in most of the countries of
Latin America and many of the ex-Soviet Union
 All laws and major policy decisions of the
countries.
government are issued in her name.
 Given the centrality of the President, this system of
 All major appointments are made in the name government is called the Presidential form of
of the President. government.
 These include the appointment of the Chief  In countries like ours that follow the British model,
Justice of India, the Judges of the Supreme the parliament is supreme.
Court and the High Courts of the states, the  Therefore our system is called the parliamentary
Governors of the states, the Election system of government.
Commissioners, ambassadors to other
countries, etc.
 All international treaties and agreements are
made in the name of the President.
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 Once a person is appointed as judge of the

Supreme Court or the High Court it is nearly
impossible to remove him or her from that
position.
THE JUDICIARY  It is as difficult as removing the President of
India.
 All the courts at different levels in a country
put together are called the judiciary.  A judge can be removed only by an
 The Indian judiciary consists of a Supreme impeachment motion passed separately by
Court for the entire nation, High Courts in the two-thirds members of the two Houses of the
states, District Courts and the courts at local Parliament.
level. India has an integrated judiciary.  The Supreme Court and the High Courts have
 It means the Supreme Court controls the the power to interpret the Constitution of the
judicial administration in the country. Its country.
decisions are binding on all other courts of the  They can declare invalid any law of the
country. legislature or the actions of the executive,
whether at the Union level or at the state level,
It can take up any dispute if they find such a law or action is against the
Constitution.
 Between citizens of the country;  Thus they can determine the Constitutional
 Between citizens and government; validity of any legislation or action of the
 Between two or more state governments; and executive in the country, when it is challenged
 Between governments at the union and state before them.
level.  This is known as the judicial review.
 It is the highest court of appeal in civil and  The Supreme Court of India has also ruled
criminal cases. that the core or basic principles of the
 It can hear appeals against the decisions of the Constitution cannot be changed by the
High Courts. Parliament.
 The powers and the independence of the
Independence of the judiciary
Indian judiciary allow it to act as the guardian
 Means that it is not under the control of the of the Fundamental Rights.
legislature or the executive.  Anyone can approach the courts if public
 The judges do not act on the direction of the interest is hurt by the actions of government.
government or according to the wishes of the  This is called public interest litigation.
party in power.  The courts intervene to prevent the misuse of
 The judges of the Supreme Court and the the government’s power to make decisions.
High Courts are appointed by the President  They check malpractices on the part of public
on the advice of the Prime Minister and in officials.
consultation with the Chief Justice of the  That is why the judiciary enjoys a high level of
Supreme Court. confidence among the people.
 In practice it now means that the senior
judges of the Supreme Court select the new
judges of the Supreme Court and the High
Courts.
 There is very little scope for interference by
the political executive. The senior most judge
of the Supreme Court is usually appointed the
Chief Justice.

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 an international human rights
organisation

CHAPTER 6
DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

What are rights?  Some rights which are fundamental to our

life are given a special status. They are
 Rights are claims of a person over other fellow
called Fundamental Rights.
beings, over the society and over the
government.
 They should be such that can be made
available to others in an equal measure.
 Thus, a right comes with an obligation to
respect other rights.

Why do we need rights in a democracy?

 Rights are necessary for the very sustenance

of a democracy.
 In a democracy every citizen has to have the
right to vote and the right to be elected to
government.
 For democratic elections to take place, it is
necessary that citizens should have the right
to express their opinion, form political parties
and take part in political activities.
Right to Equality
 Rights protect minorities from the oppression
of majority. They ensure that the majority  The Constitution says that the government
cannot do whatever it likes. shall not deny to any person in India equality
 Rights are guarantees which can be used when before the law or the equal protection of the
things go wrong. laws.
 Things may go wrong when some citizens may  It means that the laws apply in the same
wish to take away the rights of others. manner to all, regardless of a person’s status.
 This usually happens when those in majority This is called the rule of law.
want to dominate those in minority.  Rule of law is the foundation of any
 The government should protect the citizens’ democracy. It means that no person is above
rights in such a situation. the law.
 But sometimes elected governments may not  There cannot be any distinction between a
protect or may even attack the rights of their political leader, government official and an
own citizens. ordinary citizen.
 That is why some rights need to be placed
Right to Freedom
higher than the government, so that the
government cannot violate them.  Freedom means absence of constraints.
 In most democracies the basic rights of the  In practical life it means absence of
citizen are written down in the constitution. interference in our affairs by others – be it
other individuals or the government.
Amnesty International,

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Under the Indian Constitution all citizens have  You are free to criticise the government or the
the right to activities of the association in your
conversations with parents, friends and
1) Freedom of speech and expression
relatives.
2) Assembly in a peaceful manner
 You may publicise your views through a
3) Form associations and unions
pamphlet, magazine or newspaper.
4) Move freely throughout the country
 You can do it through paintings, poetry or
5) Reside in any part of the country, and
songs.
6) Practice any profession, or to carry on any
 However, you cannot use this freedom to
occupation, trade or business.
instigate violence against others.
7) Freedom is not unlimited licence to do what
one wants.  You cannot use it to incite people to rebel
8) Accordingly, the government can impose against government.
certain reasonable restrictions on our  Neither can you use it to defame others by
freedoms in the larger interests of the society. saying false and mean things that cause
damage to a person’s reputation.
 The Constitution says that no person can be  Citizens have the freedom to hold meetings,
deprived of his life or personal liberty except processions, rallies and demonstrations on
according to procedure established by law. any issue.
 It means that no person can be killed unless  They may want to discuss a problem,
the court has ordered a death sentence. exchange ideas, mobilise public support to a
 It also means that a government or police cause, or seek votes for a candidate or party in
officer cannot arrest or detain any citizen an election.
unless he has proper legal justification.  But such meetings have to be peaceful. They
should not lead to public disorder or breach of
Even when they do, they have to follow some peace in society. Those who participate in
procedures: these activities and meetings should not carry
weapons with them.
 A person who is arrested and detained in
 Citizens also can form associations.
custody will have to be informed of the
 For example workers in a factory can form a
reasons for such arrest and detention.
workers’ union to promote their interests.
 A person who is arrested and detained shall be
 Some people in a town may come together to
produced before the nearest magistrate within
form an association to campaign against
a period of 24 hours of arrest.
corruption or pollution.
 Such a person has the right to consult a lawyer
 We are free to reside and settle in any party of
or engage a lawyer for his defence.
the territory of India.
Freedom of speech and expression is one of  People from deprived castes cannot be kept to
the essential features of any democracy. their traditional occupations.

 Our ideas and personality develop only when Right against Exploitation
we are able to freely communicate with others.
 The Constitution mentions three specific evils
 You may think differently from others.
and declares these illegal.
 Even if a hundred people think in one way,
 First, the Constitution prohibits ‘traffic in
you should have the freedom to think
human beings’.
differently and express your views
 Traffic here means selling and buying of
accordingly.
human beings, usually women, for immoral
 You may disagree with a policy of government purposes.
or activities of an association.

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 Second, our Constitution also prohibits forced government aid cannot be denied to any
labour or begar in any form. citizen on the ground of religion or language.
 Begar is a practice where the worker is forced  All minorities have the right to establish and
to render service to the ‘master’ free of charge administer educational institutions of their
or at a nominal remuneration. choice.
 When this practice takes place on a life-long  Here minority does not mean only religious
basis, it is called the practice of bonded minority at the national level.
labour.  In some places people speaking a particular
 Finally, the Constitution also prohibits child language are in majority; people speaking a
labour. different language are in a minority.
 No one can employ a child below the age of
fourteen to work in any factory or mine or in How can we secure these rights?
any other hazardous work, such as railways
and ports.  FR-- enforceable.
 We have a right to seek the enforcement of the
Right to Freedom of Religion above mentioned rights. This is called the
Right to Constitutional Remedies.
 Right to freedom includes right to freedom of  This itself is a Fundamental Right.
religion as well.
 This right makes other rights effective.
 The state has to be neutral and impartial in
 It is possible that sometimes our rights may
dealing with all religions.
be violated by fellow citizens, private bodies or
 Every religious group or sect is free to manage by the government. When any of our rights
its religious affairs. are violated we can seek remedy through
 Of course, a person is free to change religion courts.
on his or her own will.  If it is a Fundamental Right we can directly
Some reasonable restrictions are there- approach the Supreme Court or the High
Court of a state.
 For example, one cannot sacrifice animals or  That is why Dr. Ambedkar called the Right to
human beings as offerings to supernatural Constitutional Remedies, ‘the heart and soul’
forces or gods. of our Constitution.
 Religious practices which treat women as
inferior or those that infringe women’s EXPANDING SCOPE OF RIGHTS
freedom are not allowed.
 Parliament has enacted a law giving the right
 For example, one cannot force a widowed
to information to the citizens.
woman to shave head or wear white clothes.
 This Act was made under the Fundamental
 Government cannot compel any person to pay
Right to freedom of thought and expression.
any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of
 We have a right to seek information from
any particular religion or religious institution.
government offices.
 There shall be no religious instruction in the
government educational institutions.  Recently the Supreme Court has expanded the
meaning of the right to life to include the right
Constitution specifies the cultural and to food.
educational rights of the minorities:  Also, rights are not limited only to
Fundamental Rights as enumerated in the
 Any section of citizens with a distinct language Constitution.
or culture has a right to conserve it.  Constitution provides many more rights,
 Admission to any educational institution which may not be Fundamental Rights.
maintained by government or receiving

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 For example the right to property is not a  Set up by law in 1993.

Fundamental Right but it is a constitutional  The Commission is appointed by the President
right. and includes retired judges, officers and
 Right to vote in elections is an important eminent citizens.
constitutional right.  Focuses on helping the victims secure their
human rights.
You have read in Chapter Five that the  These include all the rights granted to the
Government of India has provided reservations citizens by the Constitution.
for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other  For NHRC human rights also include the
Backward Classes. Various governments have rights mentioned in the UN sponsored
different schemes for giving preference to international treaties that India has signed
women, poor or physically handicapped in some  The NHRC cannot by itself punish the guilty.
kinds of jobs. Are these reservations against the That is the responsibility of courts.
right to equality?  It also inquiries into any case of abetment of
such violation or negligence in controlling it
 They are not. For equality does not mean
by any government officer and takes other
giving everyone the same treatment, no
general steps to promote human rights in the
matter what they need.
country.
 Equality means giving everyone an equal  The Commission presents its findings and
opportunity to achieve whatever one is recommendations to the government or
capable of. intervene in the court on behalf of the victims.
 Sometimes it is necessary to give special  It has wide ranging powers to carry out its
treatment to someone in order to ensure equal inquiry.
opportunity.  Like any court it can summon witnesses,
 This is what job reservations do. question any government official, demand any
 Just to clarify this, the Constitution says that official paper, visit any prison for inspection
reservations of this kind are not a violation of or send its own team for on-the-spot inquiry.
the Right to Equality.
 The principle of non-discrimination extends International Covenant on Economic,
to social life as well. Social and Cultural Rights
 The Constitution mentions one extreme form
of social discrimination, the practice of  This international covenant recognises many
untouchability, and clearly directs the rights that are not directly a part of the
government to put an end to it. Fundamental Rights in the Indian
 The practice of untouchability has been Constitution.
forbidden in any form.  This has not yet become an international
 Untouchability here does not only mean treaty.
refusal to touch people belonging to certain  But human right activists all over the world
castes. see this as a standard of human rights.
 It refers to any belief or social practice which
These include:
looks down upon people on account of their
birth with certain caste labels. a) right to work: opportunity to everyone to earn
 Such practice denies them interaction with livelihood by working
others or access to public places as equal b) right to safe and healthy working conditions,
citizens. fair wages that can provide decent standard of
 So the Constitution made untouchability a living for the workers and their families
punishable offence. c) right to adequate standard of living including
adequate food, clothing and housing
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
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d) right to social security and insurance
e) right to health: medical care during illness,
special care for women during childbirth and
prevention of epidemics
f) Right to education: free and compulsory
primary education, equal access to higher
education.

Thus the scope of rights has been expanding and

new rights are evolving over time.

The Constitution of South Africa guarantees its

citizens several kinds of new rights:

a) Right to privacy, so that citizens or their home

cannot be searched, their phones cannot be
tapped, their communication cannot be
opened.
b) Right to an environment that is not harmful to
their health or wellbeing;
c) Right to have access to adequate housing.
d) Right to have access to health care services,
sufficient food and water; no one may be
refused emergency medical treatment.

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Class- X
Democratic Politics- II
Chapter 1
Power-sharing

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka-

 1948- Sri Lanka emerged as an independent

country
 The leaders of the Sinhala community sought
to secure dominance over government by
virtue of their majority.
 As a result, the democratically elected
government adopted a series of
MAJORITARIAN measures to establish
Sinhala supremacy.
 1956-An Act was passed to recognise Sinhala
as the only official language, thus disregarding
Tamil.  As a result, the relations between the Sinhala
 The governments followed preferential and Tamil communities strained over time.
policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for  The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and
university positions and government jobs. struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an
 A new constitution stipulated that the state official language, for regional autonomy and
shall protect and foster Buddhism. equality of opportunity in securing education
 All these government measures, coming one and jobs.
after the other, gradually increased the feeling  But their demand for more autonomy to
of alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils. provinces populated by the Tamils was
 They felt that none of the major political repeatedly denied.
parties led by the Buddhist Sinhala leaders  By 1980s several political organisations were
was sensitive to their language and culture. formed demanding an independent Tamil
 They felt that the constitution and Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of
government policies denied them equal Sri Lanka.
political rights, discriminated against them in  The distrust between the two communities
getting jobs and other opportunities and turned into widespread conflict. It soon
ignored their interests. turned into a CIVIL WAR.
 As a result thousands of people of both the
communities have been killed.
 Many families were forced to leave the
country as refugees and many more lost their
livelihoods.
 But the civil war has caused a terrible setback
to the social, cultural and economic life of the
country. It ended in 2009.

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Accommodation in Belgium possible division of the country on linguistic
lines.
 Belgium is a small country in Europe  When many countries of Europe came
 The Belgian leaders took a different path. together to form the European Union,
 They recognised the existence of regional Brussels was chosen as its headquarters
differences and cultural diversities.
 Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their Forms of power-sharing
constitution four times so as to work out an
Power is shared among-
arrangement that would enable everyone to
live together within the same country.  different organs of government, such as the
 The arrangement they worked out is different legislature, executive and judiciary
from any other country and is very innovative.  Among governments at different levels – a
general government for the entire country and
Here are some of the elements of the Belgian
governments at the provincial or regional
model:
level.
 Constitution prescribes that the number of  among different social groups such as the
Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be religious and linguistic groups (Example-
equal in the central government. ‘Community government’ in Belgium)
 Some special laws require the support of  Political parties, pressure groups and
majority of members from each linguistic movements control or influence those in
group. power.
 Thus, no single community can make
decisions unilaterally.
 Many powers of the central government have
been given to state governments of the two
regions of the country.
 The state governments are not subordinate to
the Central Government.
 Brussels has a separate government in which
both the communities have equal
representation.
 The French speaking people accepted equal
representation in Brussels because the Dutch-
speaking community has accepted equal
representation in the Central Government.
 Apart from the Central and the State
Government, there is a third kind of
government.
 This ‘community government’ is elected by
people belonging to one language community
– Dutch, French and German-speaking – no
matter where they live.
 This government has the power regarding
cultural, educational and language-related
issues.
 Belgian model helped to avoid civic strife
between the two major communities and a

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Chapter- 2
Usually, a federation has two levels of
Federalism government.

 One is the government for the entire country

“…. Federalism is a system of government in that is usually responsible for a few subjects of
which the power is divided between a central common national interest.
authority and various constituent units of the
 The others are governments at the level of
country”
provinces or states that look after much of the
day-to-day administering of their state.

Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other.

Key features of federalism  Such changes require the consent of both the
levels of government
 2 or more levels (or tiers) of government.  Courts have the power to interpret the
 Different tiers of government govern the same constitution and the powers of different levels
citizens, but each tier has its own of government.
JURISDICTION in specific matters of  The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes
legislation, taxation and administration. arise between different levels of government
 The jurisdictions of the respective levels or in the exercise of their respective powers.
tiers of government are specified in the  Sources of revenue for each level of
constitution. So the existence and authority of government are clearly specified to ensure its
each tier of government is constitutionally financial autonomy.
guaranteed.
 The fundamental provisions of the The federal system thus has dual objectives:
constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by
one level of government.  To safeguard and promote unity of the
country,
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 While at the same time accommodate  Later, a third tier of federalism was added in
regional diversity. the form of Panchayats and Municipalities.

An ideal federal system has both aspects: mutual

Union List
trust and agreement to live together.
 Includes subjects of national importance
 The exact balance of power between the
such as defence of the country, foreign
central and the state government varies from
affairs, banking, communications and
one federation to another.
currency.
 This balance depends mainly on the historical
 They are included in this list because we
context in which the federation was formed.
need a uniform policy on these matters
 There are two kinds of routes through which
throughout the country.
federations have been formed.
 The first route involves independent States  The Union Government alone can make
coming together on their own to form a bigger laws relating to the subjects mentioned
unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and in the Union List
retaining identity they can increase their
security.
 This type of ‘coming together’ federations State List
includes the USA, Switzerland and Australia.
 In this first category of federations, all the  Contains subjects of State and local
constituent States usually have equal power importance such as police, trade,
and are strong vis-à-vis the federal commerce, agriculture and irrigation.
government  The State Governments alone can make
 The second route is where a large country laws relating to the subjects mentioned
decides to divide its power between the in the State List.
constituent States and the national
government.
 India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this
kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
Concurrent List
 In this second category, the central
government tends to be more powerful vis-à-  Includes subjects of common interest to both
vis the States. the Union Government as well as the State
 Very often different constituent units of the Governments, such as education, forest,
federation have unequal powers. trade unions, marriage, adoption and
 Some units are granted special powers. succession.
What makes India a federal country?  Both the Union as well as the State
Governments can make laws
 After Independence, The Constitution  If their laws conflict with each other, the law
declared India as a Union of States. made by the Union Government will prevail.
 Although it did not use the word federation,  According to our constitution, the Union
the Indian Union is based on the principles of Government has the power to legislate on
federalism. these ‘residuary’ subjects.
 Originally provided for a two-tier system of
government, the Union Government or
Central Government (Union of India) and the
State governments.

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Special Status-  Some States were created not on the basis of
language but to recognise differences based on
 All States in the Indian Union do not have culture, ethnicity or geography.
identical powers. Some States enjoy a special  These include States like Nagaland,
status. Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
 Jammu and Kashmir has its own Constitution.
 Many provisions of the Indian Constitution Fear for Linguistic States-
are not applicable to this State without the
approval of the State Assembly.  When the demand for the formation of States
 Indians who are not permanent residents of on the basis of language was raised, some
this State cannot buy land or house here. national leaders feared that it would lead to
the disintegration of the country.
 UTs like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the
 The Central Government resisted linguistic
capital city of Delhi do not have the powers of
a State. States for some time.
 The Central Government has special powers in  But the experience has shown that the
running these areas. formation of linguistic States has actually
made the country, more united.
Amendments to Constitution-  It has also made administration easier.

 Any change to structure of the Constitution Language policy

has to be first passed by both the Houses of
Parliament with at least 2/3rd majority.  Our Constitution did not give the status of
 Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of national language to any one language.
at least half of the total States.  Hindi was identified as the official language.
 The judiciary plays an important role in  Scheduled Languages by the Constitution- 22
overseeing the implementation of  A candidate in an examination conducted for
constitutional provisions and procedures. the Central Government positions may opt to
 In case of any dispute about the division of take the examination in any of these
powers, the High Courts and the Supreme languages.
Court make a decision.  States too have their own official languages.
 The Union and State governments have the  According to the Constitution, the use of
power to raise resources by levying taxes in English for official purposes was to stop in
order to carry on the government and the 1965.
responsibilities assigned to each of them.  However, many non- Hindi speaking States
demanded that the use of English continue.
How is federalism practised?
 In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent
 The real success of federalism in India can be form.
attributed to the nature of democratic politics  The Central Government responded by
in our country. agreeing to continue the use of English along
 This ensured that the spirit of federalism, with Hindi for official purposes.
respect for diversity and desire for living
Centre-State relations
together became shared ideals in our country.
 Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one
Linguistic States
more way in which federalism has been
 The creation of linguistic States was the first strengthened in practice.
and a major test for democratic politics in our  As and when the ruling party at the State level
country. was different, the parties that ruled at the

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Centre tried to undermine the power of the
States.
 In those days, the Central Government would
often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the
State governments that were controlled by
rival parties.
 This undermined the spirit of federalism.
 All this changed significantly after 1990.
 This period saw the rise of regional political
parties in many States of the country.
 This was also the beginning of the era of
COALITION GOVERNMENTS at the Centre.
 Since no single party got a clear majority in
the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had
to enter into an alliance with many parties
including several regional parties to form a
government at the Centre.
 This trend was supported by a major
judgement of the Supreme Court that made it
difficult for the Central Government to
dismiss state governments in an arbitrary
manner.
 Thus, federal power sharing is more effective
today than it was in the early years after the
Constitution came into force.

Linguistic diversity of India

As per Census of India 2001-

 Languages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Decentralisation in India

Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani,
Bhili and many others were grouped together  When power is taken away from Central and
under ‘Hindi’. State governments and given to local
 Even after this grouping, the Census found 114 government, it is called decentralisation.
major languages.  A major step towards decentralisation was
 Of these 22 languages are now included in the taken in 1992.
Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution  The Constitution was amended to make the
and are therefore called ‘Scheduled third-tier of democracy more powerful and
Languages’. effective.
 Others are called ‘non- Scheduled Languages’.  Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold
regular elections to local government bodies.
 Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and
the executive heads of these institutions for
the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Other Backward Classes.
 At least 1/3rd of all positions are reserved for
women.

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 An independent institution called the State  Most members of the Zila Parishad are
Election Commission has been created in each elected.
State to conduct Panchayat and municipal  Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that
elections. district and some other officials of other
 The State governments are required to share district level bodies are also its members.
some powers and revenue with local  Zila Parishad chairperson is the political head
government bodies. of the Zila Parishad.
 The nature of sharing varies from State to
State. Municipalities
Purpose-  Similarly, local government bodies exist for
urban areas as well.
 There are a large number of problems and
 Municipalities are set up in towns.
issues which are best settled at the local level.
 Big cities are constituted into municipal
 Local government is the best way to realise corporations.
one important principle of democracy, namely  Both municipalities and municipal
local self-government. corporations are controlled by elected bodies
consisting of people’s representatives.
PRI  Municipal chairperson is the political head of
the municipality.
 Rural local government is popularly known by
 In a municipal corporation such an officer is
the name Panchayati raj.
called the mayor.
 Each village, or a group of villages in some
States, has a gram panchayat.
 This is a council consisting of several ward
members, often called panch, and a president
or Sarpanch.
 They are directly elected by all the adult
population living in that ward or village.
 Works under the overall supervision of the
gram sabha.
 All the voters in the village are its members.
 It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year
to approve the annual budget of the gram
panchayat and to review the performance of
the gram panchayat.
 The local government structure goes right up
to the district level.
 A few gram Panchayats are grouped together
to form what is usually called a
Panchayatsamitis or block or Mandal.
 The members of this representative body are
elected by all the Panchayat members in that
area.
 All the Panchayat samitis or mandals in a
district together constitute the Zila (district)
Parishad.

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Chapter- 3 Chapter- 4
Democracy and Diversity Gender, Religion and Caste
Origins of social differences Gender and politics

 Mostly based on accident of birth.  Public/private division-

 Some of the differences are based on our
choices. SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR
 For example, some people are atheists. They
 On an average an Indian woman works one
don’t believe in God or any religion.
hour more than an average man every day. Yet
 Some people choose to follow a religion other
much of her work is not paid and therefore
than the one in which they were born.
often not valued.
 Most of us choose what to study, which
 The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides
occupation to take up and which games or
that equal wages should be paid to equal work.
cultural activities to take part in.
However in almost all areas of work, from
Three determinants sports and cinema, to factories and fields,
women are paid less than men, even when
 Three factors are crucial in deciding the both do exactly the same work.
outcome of politics of social divisions.  In many parts of India parents prefer to have
 First of all, the outcome depends on how sons and find ways to have the girl child
people perceive their identities. If people see aborted before she is born. (led to a decline in
their identities in singular and exclusive child sex ratio)
terms, it becomes very difficult to
accommodate. Women’s political representation
 Second, it depends on how political leaders
 In India, the proportion of women in
raise the demands of any community.
legislature has been very low.
 Third, it depends on how the government
 For example, the percentage of elected women
reacts to demands of different groups.
members in Lok Sabha has touched 12 per
cent of its total strength for the first time in
2014.
 Their share in the state assemblies is less than
5 per cent.

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Communalism

 The problem begins when religion is seen as

the basis of the nation.
 When beliefs of one religion are presented as
superior to those of other religions, when the
demands of one religious group are formed in
opposition to another and when state power is
used to establish domination of one religious
group over the rest.

This manner of using religion in politics is

communal politics.

Communalism can take various forms in

 One-third of seats in local government bodies politics:
– in panchayats and municipalities – are now  The most common expression of
reserved for women. communalism is in everyday beliefs.
 Women’s organisations and activists have
 These routinely involve religious prejudices,
been demanding a similar reservation of at
stereotypes of religious communities and
least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and belief in the superiority of one’s religion over
State Assemblies for women. other religions.
 A bill with this proposal has been pending  For those belonging to majority community,
before the Parliament for more than a decade. this takes the form of majoritarian
 But there is no consensus over this among all dominance.
the political parties.
 For those belonging to the minority
 The bill has not been passed. community, it can take the form of a desire to
form a separate political unit.
Religion  Political mobilisation on religious lines is
another frequent form of communalism.
 Gandhiji used to say that religion can never  This involves the use of sacred symbols,
be separated from politics. religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain
 Human rights groups in our country have fear in order to bring the followers of one
argued that most of the victims of religion together in the political arena.
communal riots in our country are people  In electoral politics this often involves special
from religious minorities. appeal to the interests or emotions of voters of
 They have demanded that the government one religion in preference to others.
take special steps to protect religious  Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly
minorities. form of communal violence, riots and
 Women’s movement has argued that massacre.
FAMILY LAWS of all religions discriminate  India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst
against women. communal riots at the time of the Partition.
 So they have demanded that government  The post-Independence period has also seen
should change these laws to make them large scale communal violence.
more equitable.
Secular state

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 Communalism was one of the major  The Constitution of India prohibited any
challenges to democracy in our country. caste-based discrimination and laid the
 The makers of our Constitution were aware of foundations of policies to reverse the
this challenge. injustices of the caste system.
 That is why they chose the model of a secular
state.

This choice was reflected in several constitutional

provisions that we studied last year:

 There is no official religion for the Indian

state.
 Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka,
that of Islam in Pakistan and that of
Christianity in England, our Constitution does
not give a special status to any religion.
 The Constitution provides to all individuals
and communities freedom to profess, practice
and propagate any religion, or not to follow
any. Caste in politics
 The Constitution prohibits discrimination on Caste can take various forms in politics:
grounds of religion.
 At the same time, the Constitution allows the  When parties choose candidates in elections,
state to intervene in the matters of religion in they keep in mind the caste composition of the
order to ensure equality within religious electorate and nominate candidates from
communities. different castes so as to muster necessary
 For example, it bans untouchability. support to win elections.
 Political parties and candidates in elections
Caste and politics make appeals to caste sentiment to muster
support.
 Caste system was based on exclusion of and
 Universal adult franchise and the principle of
discrimination against the ‘outcaste’ groups.
one-person-one-vote compelled political
 They were subjected to the inhuman practice
leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising
of untouchability
and securing political support.
 That is why political leaders and social
 It also brought new consciousness among the
reformers like Jotiba Phule, Gandhiji, B.R.
people of castes that were hitherto treated as
Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker
inferior and low.
advocated and worked to establish a society in
which caste inequalities are absent.
 Partly due to their efforts and partly due to
other socio-economic changes, castes and
caste system in modern India have undergone
great changes.
 With economic development, large scale
URBANISATION, growth of literacy and
education, OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY and
the weakening of the position of landlords in
the villages, the old notions of CASTE
HIERARCHY are breaking down.
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 Thus, caste plays different kinds of roles in
politics.
 In some situations, expression of caste
differences in politics gives many
disadvantaged communities the space to
demand their share of power.
 In this sense-caste politics has helped people
from Dalits and OBC castes to gain better
access to decision making.
 Several political and non-political
organisations have been demanding and
agitating for an end to discrimination against
 The focus on caste in politics can sometimes particular castes, for more dignity and more
give an impression that elections are all about access to land, resources and opportunities.
caste and nothing else.  At the same time exclusive attention to caste
 No parliamentary constituency in the country can produce negative results as well.
has a clear majority of one single caste.  As in the case of religion, politics based on
 So, every candidate and party needs to win the caste identity alone is not very healthy in a
confidence of more than one caste and democracy.
community to win elections.  It can divert attention from other pressing
 No party wins the votes of all the voters of a issues like poverty, development and
caste or community. corruption.
 When people say that a caste is a ‘vote bank’ of  In some cases caste division leads to tensions,
one party, it usually means that a large conflict and even violence.
proportion of the voters from that caste vote
for that party.

Politics in caste

 Politics too influences the caste system and

caste identities by bringing them into the
political arena.
 Thus, it is not politics that gets caste ridden; it
is the caste that gets politicised.

This takes several forms:

 Each caste group tries to become bigger by

incorporating within it neighbouring castes or
sub-castes which were earlier excluded from
it.
 Various caste groups are required to enter into
a coalition with other castes or communities
and thus enter into a dialogue and
negotiation.
 New kinds of caste groups have come up in
the political arena like ‘backward’ and
‘forward’ caste groups.

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Chapter- 5  He took advantage of the weakness and

unpopularity of the democratically elected
Popular Struggles and
government.
Movements  February 2005- the king dismissed the then
Democracy and popular struggles Prime Minister and dissolved the popularly
elected Parliament.
 These two stories are from very different  The movement of April 2006 was aimed at
contexts. regaining popular control over the
a) The movement in Nepal was to establish government from the king.
democracy, while the struggle in Bolivia  All the major political parties in the
involved claims on an elected, democratic parliament formed a Seven Party Alliance
government. (SPA) and called for a four-day strike in
b) The popular struggle in Bolivia was about Kathmandu, the country’s capital.
one specific policy, while the struggle in  This protest soon turned into an indefinite
Nepal was about the foundations of the strike in which MAOIST insurgents and
country’s politics. various other organisations joined hands.
 Both these struggles were successful but their  People defied curfew and took to the streets.
impact was at different levels.  The security forces found themselves unable
 Despite these differences, both the stories to take on more than a lakh people who
share some elements which are relevant to the gathered almost every day to demand
study of the past and future of democracies. restoration of democracy.
 Both these are instances of political conflict  The number of protesters reached between
that led to popular struggles. three and five lakhs on 21 April and they
 In both cases the struggle involved mass served an ultimatum to the king.
mobilisation.  The leaders of the movement rejected the half-
 Public demonstration of mass support hearted concessions made by the king.
clinched the dispute.  They stuck to their demands for restoration of
 Finally, both instances involved critical role of parliament, power to an all-party government
political organisations. and a new constituent assembly.
 On 24 April 2006, the last day of the
Movement for democracy in Nepal ultimatum, the king was forced to concede all
the three demands.
 Nepal witnessed an extraordinary popular
movement in April 2006.  The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the
new Prime Minister of the interim
 The movement was aimed at restoring
government.
democracy.
 Although the king formally remained the head  The restored parliament met and passed laws
of the state, the real power was exercised by taking away most of the powers of the king.
popularly elected representatives.  The SPA and the Maoists came to an
understanding about how the new Constituent
 King Birendra, who has accepted this
Assembly was going to be elected.
transition from absolute monarchy to
constitutional monarchy, was killed in a  In 2008, the monarchy was abolished and
mysterious massacre of the royal family in Nepal became a federal democratic republic.
2001.  In 2015, it adopted a new constitution.
 King Gyanendra, the new king of Nepal, was
not prepared to accept democratic rule.

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Bolivia’s Water War Mobilisation and organisations

 The story of Poland and that of Nepal apply to  Seven Party Alliance in Nepalhad included
the struggle for establishing or restoring some big parties that had some members in
democracy. the Parliament.
 But the role of popular struggles does not  But the SPA was not the only organisation
come to an end with the establishment of behind this mass upsurge.
democracy.  The protest was joined by the Nepalese
 People’s successful struggle against Communist Party (Maoist) which did not
privatisation of water in Bolivia reminds us believe in parliamentary democracy.
that popular struggles are integral to the  This party was involved in an armed struggle
working of democracy. against the Nepali government and had
 Bolivia is a poor country in Latin America. established its control over large parts of
 The World Bank pressurised the government Nepal.
to give up its control of municipal water  The struggle involved many organisations
supply. other than political parties.
 All the major labour unions and their
 The government sold these rights for the city
federations joined this movement.
of Cochabamba to a multi-national company
 Many other organisations like the
(MNC).
organisation of the indigenous people,
 The company immediately increased the price
teachers, lawyers and human rights groups
of water by four times.
extended support to the movement.
 Many people received monthly water bill of Rs
 The protest against water privatisation in
1000 in a country where average income is
Bolivia was not led by any political party.
around Rs 5000 a month.
 It was led by an organisation called
 This led to a spontaneous popular protest.
FEDECOR.
 In January 2000, a new alliance of labour,  This organisation comprised local
human rights and community leaders professionals, including engineers and
organised a successful four-day general strike environmentalists.
in the city.  They were supported by a federation of
 The government agreed to negotiate and the farmers who relied on irrigation, the
strike was called off. Yet nothing happened. confederation of factory workers’ unions,
 The police resorted to brutal repression when middle class students from the University of
the agitation was started again in February. Cochabamba and the city’s growing
 Another strike followed in April and the population of homeless street children.
government imposed martial law.  The movement was supported by the Socialist
 But the power of the people forced the officials Party.
of the MNC to flee the city and made the  In 2006, this party came to power in Bolivia.
government concede to all the demands of the  From both these examples, we can see that in
protesters. a democracy several different kinds of
 The contract with the MNC was cancelled and organisations work behind any big struggle.
water supply was restored to the municipality  These organisations play their role in two
at old rates. This came to be known as ways.
Bolivia’s water war.  One obvious way of influencing the decisions
in a democracy is direct participation in
competitive politics.
 This is done by creating parties, contesting
elections and forming governments.

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 But every citizen does not participate so  In the context of Nepal, we noted the
directly. participation of human rights organisations.
 They may not have the desire, the need or the  These second type of groups are called
skills to take part in direct political activity promotional groups or public interest groups.
other than voting. They promote collective rather than selective
 There are many indirect ways in which people good.
can get governments to listen to their  They aim to help groups other than their own
demands or their points of view. members.
 They could do so by forming an organisation  For example, a group fighting against bonded
and undertaking activities to promote their labour fights not for itself but for those who
interests or their viewpoints. are suffering under such bondage.
 These are called interest groups or pressure  In some instances the members of a public
groups. interest group may undertake activity that
benefits them as well as others too.
Pressure groups and movements  For example, BAMCEF (Backward and
Minority Communities Employees
“…Pressure groups are organisations that Federation) is an organisation largely made
attempt to influence government policies!!’’ up of government employees that campaign
against caste discrimination.
 It addresses the problems of its members who
 But unlike political parties, pressure groups suffer discrimination.
do not aim to directly control or share
political power. Sectional interest groups and public
 These organisations are formed when people interest groups
with common occupation, interest,
 Usually interest groups seek to promote the
aspirations or opinions come together in
interests of a particular section or group of
order to achieve a common objective.
society.
 Trade unions, business associations and
professional (lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc.)
Examples- Narmada Bachao Andolan, Movement
bodies are some examples of this type.
for Right to Information, Anti-liquor Movement,
Women’s Movement, Environmental Movement They are sectional because they represent a
section of society:
 Like an interest group, a movement also
attempts to influence politics rather than  Workers, employees, businesspersons,
directly take part in electoral competition. industrialists, followers of a religion, caste
 But unlike the interest groups, movements group, etc.
have a loose organisation. Their decision
 Their principal concern is the betterment and
making is more informal and flexible.
well-being of their members, not society in
 They depend much more on spontaneous
general.
mass participation than an interest group.
 Sometimes these organisations are not about Movement groups
representing the interest of one section of
society.  Most of the movements are issue-specific
 They represent some common or general movements that seek to achieve a single
interest that needs to be defended. objective within a limited time frame.
 The Bolivian organisation, FEDECOR is an  Others are more general or generic
example of that kind of an organisation. movements that seek to achieve a broad goal
in the very long term.

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 The Nepalese movement for democracy arose bodies and committees that offer advice to the
with the specific objective of reversing the government.
king’s orders that led to suspension of  While interest groups and movements do not
democracy. directly engage in party politics, they seek to
 In India, Narmada Bachao Andolan is a good exert influence on political parties.
example of this kind of movement.  Most of the movement groups take a political
 The movement started with the specific issue stance without being a party.
of the people displaced by the creation of  They have political ideology and political
Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada River. position on major issues.
 Its objective was to stop the dam from being
constructed The relationship between political parties and
 These single-issue movements can be pressure groups can take different forms, some
contrasted with movements that are long term direct and others very indirect:
and involve more than one issue.
 Examples- environmental movement and the  In some instances, the pressure groups are
women’s movement either formed or led by the leaders of political
 There is no single organisation that controls parties or act as extended arms of political
or guides such movements. parties.
 For example, the National Alliance for  For example, most trade unions and students’
Peoples’ Movements (NAPM) is an organisations in India are either established
organisation of organisations. by, or affiliated to one or the other major
 Various movement groups struggling on political party.
specific issues are constituents of this loose  Most of the leaders of such pressure groups
organisation which coordinates the activities are usually activists and leaders of party.
of a large number of peoples’ movements in  Sometimes political parties grow out of
our country. movements.
 For example, when the Assam movement led
How do they influence politics? by students against the ‘foreigners’ came to an
end, it led to the formation of the Asom Gana
Pressure groups and movements exert influence
Parishad.
on politics in a variety of ways:
 The roots of parties like the DMK and the
 They try to gain public support and sympathy AIADMK in Tamil Nadu can be traced to a
for their goals and their activities by carrying long-drawn social reform movement during
out information campaigns, organising the 1930s and 1940s.
meetings, filing petitions, etc.  In most cases the relationship between parties
 They often organise protest activity like and interest or movement groups is not so
strikes or disrupting government direct.
programmes.  They often take positions that are opposed to
 Workers’ organisations, employees’ each other.
associations and most of the movement
groups often resort to these tactics in order to
force the government to take note of their
demands.
 Business groups often employ professional
lobbyists or sponsor expensive
advertisements.
 Some persons from pressure groups or
movement groups may participate in official

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Is their influence healthy?

 It may initially appear that it is not healthy

for groups that promote interest of one
section to have influence in democracy.
 A democracy must look after the interests
of all, not just one section.
 Also, it may seem that these groups wield
power without responsibility.
 Political parties have to face the people in
elections, but these groups are not
accountable to the people.
 Pressure groups and movements may not
get their funds and support from the
people.
 Sometimes, pressure groups with small
public support but lots of money can hijack
public discussion in favour of their narrow
agenda
 On balance, however, pressure groups and
movements have deepened democracy.
 Putting pressure on the rulers is not an
unhealthy activity in a democracy as long
as everyone gets this opportunity.
 Governments can often come under undue
pressure from a small group of rich and
powerful people.
 Public interest groups and movements
perform a useful role of countering this
undue influence and reminding the
government of the needs and concerns of
ordinary citizens.
 Even the sectional interest groups play a
valuable role.
 Where different groups function actively,
no one single group can achieve dominance
over society.
 If one group brings pressure on
government to make policies in its favour,
another will bring counter pressure not to
make policies in the way the first group
desires.

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Chapter- 6 Multiparty system
Political Parties
If several parties compete for power, and more
 A political party is a group of people who than two parties have a reasonable chance of
come together to contest elections and hold coming to power either on their own strength or
power in the government. in alliance with others
 They agree on some policies and programmes
for the society with a view to promote the Alliance or a front
collective good.
When several parties in a multi-party system join
 They seek to implement these policies by hands for the purpose of contesting elections and
winning popular support through elections. winning power, it is called an alliance or a front.
 Thus, parties reflect fundamental political
divisions in a society. For example,
 Parties are about a part of the society and thus
involve PARTISANSHIP. In India there were three such major alliances in
 Thus a party is known by which part it stands 2004 parliamentary elections– the National
for, which policies it supports and whose Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive
interests it upholds. Alliance and the Left Front.

A political party has three components: National parties

 The leaders,  Has to register with the Election Commission

 The active members and  Given a unique symbol
 The followers  Recognised political parties- Parties that get
this privilege and some other special facilities
Functions are ‘recognised’ by the Election Commission
 A party that secures at least six per cent of the
 Parties contest elections.
total votes in an election to the Legislative
 Parties put forward different policies and
Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats
programmes and the voters choose from
is recognised as a State party
them.
 A party that secures at least six per cent of the
 Parties play a decisive role in making laws for
total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly
a country
elections in four States and wins at least four
 Parties form and run governments
seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a
 Those parties that lose in the elections play
National party.
the role of opposition to the parties in power,
by voicing different views and criticising State parties
government for its failures or wrong policies.
 Parties shape public opinion These are commonly referred to as regional
 Parties provide people access to government parties.
machinery and welfare schemes implemented Challenges to political parties
by governments.
1) Lack of internal democracy within parties.
One party System-
2) Challenge of dynastic succession is related to
 In some countries, only one party is allowed to the first one.
control and run the government.
 These are called one-party systems. Since most political parties do not practice open
and transparent procedures for their functioning,

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there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to
rise to the top in a party.

3) Growing role of money and muscle power in

parties, especially during elections. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP):

4) The fourth challenge is that very often parties o Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile
do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed by Syama
voters Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
o Wants to build a strong and modern India
by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC): culture and values; and Deendayal
Upadhyaya’s ideas of integral humanism
o Launched on 1 January 1998 under the
and Antyodaya.
leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
o Cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’) is an
o Recognised as a national party in 2016.
important element in its conception of
o The party’s symbol is flowers and grass.
Indian nationhood and politics.
o Committed to secularism and federalism.
o Wants full territorial and political
o Has been in power in West Bengal since 2011.
integration of Jammu and Kashmir with
o Also has a presence in Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur and Tripura. India, a uniform civil code for all people
o In the General Elections held in 2014, it got living in the country irrespective of
religion, and ban on religious conversions.
3.84% votes and won 34 seats, making it the
fourth largest party in the Lok Sabha. o Its support base increased substantially in
the 1990s.
o Earlier limited to north and west and to
urban areas, the party expanded its
support in the south, east, the north-east
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): and to rural areas
o Came to power in 1998 as the leader of the
o Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi
Ram.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
o Seeks to represent and secure power for the including several regional parties.
Bahujan Samaj which includes the Dalits, o Emerged as the largest party with 282
adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities. members in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
o Draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of o Currently leads the ruling NDA
Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar government at the Centre.
Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb Ambedkar.
o Stands for the cause of securing the interests and
welfare of the Dalits and oppressed people.
o It has its main base in the state of Uttar Pradesh
and substantial presence in neighbouring states
like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand,
Delhi and Punjab.
o Formed government in Uttar Pradesh several
times by taking the support of different parties at
different times.
o In the Lok Sabha elections held in 2014, it polled
about 4 per cent votes but did not secure seat in
the Lok Sabha.

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Communist Party of India (CPI): Indian National Congress (INC):

o Formed in 1925. o Popularly known as the Congress Party.
o Believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism o Founded in 1885 and has experienced many
and democracy. splits.
o Opposed to the forces of secessionism and o Played a dominant role in Indian politics at
communalism. the national and state level for several
o Accepts parliamentary democracy as a decades after India’s Independence.
means of promoting the interests of the o Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru,
working class, farmers and the poor. the party sought to build a modern secular
o Became weak after the split in the party in democratic republic in India. Ruling party
1964 that led to the formation of the at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980 to
CPI(M). 1989.
o Significant presence in the states of Kerala, o After 1989, its support declined, but it
West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and continues to be present throughout the
Tamil Nadu. country, cutting across social divisions.
o Its support base had gradually declined o A centrist party (neither rightist nor leftist)
over the years. in its ideological orientation, the party
o It secured less than 1 per cent votes and 1 espouses secularism and welfare of weaker
seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. sections and minorities.
o Advocates the coming together of all left o Supports new economic reforms but with a
parties to build a strong left front. human face.
o Leader of the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) government from 2004 to 2014.
Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI- o Currently it is the principal opposition party
M): in the Lok Sabha.

o Founded in 1964.
o Believes in Marxism- Leninism.
o Supports socialism, secularism and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP):
democracy and opposes imperialism and
communalism. o Formed in 1999 following a split in the
o Accepts democratic elections as a useful and Congress party.
helpful means for securing the objective of o Espouses democracy, Gandhian secularism,
socioeconomic justice in India. equity, social justice and federalism.
o Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala o Wants that high offices in government be
and Tripura, especially among the poor, confined to natural born citizens of the
factory workers, farmers, agricultural country.
labourers and the intelligentsia. o A major party in Maharashtra and has a
o Critical of the new economic policies that significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur
allow free flow of foreign capital and goods and Assam.
into the country. o A coalition partner in the state of
o Was in power in West Bengal without a break Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress.
for 34 years. o Since 2004, a member of the United
o In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it won about Progressive Alliance.
3 per cent of votes and 9 seats.

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How can parties be reformed?  The quality of democracy depends on the
degree of public participation.
 The Constitution was amended to prevent  It is difficult to reform politics if ordinary
elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties. citizens do not take part in it and simply
 This was done because many elected criticise it from the outside.
representatives were indulging in
DEFECTION in order to become ministers or
for cash rewards.
 Now the law says that if any MLA or MP
changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in
the legislature.
 The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce
the influence of money and criminals.
 Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who
contests elections to file an AFFIDAVIT giving
details of his property and criminal cases
pending against him.
 The new system has made a lot of information
available to the public.
 But there is no system of check if the
information given by the candidates is true.
 The Election Commission passed an order
making it necessary for political parties to
hold their organisational elections and file
their income tax returns.
 A law should be made to regulate the internal
affairs of political parties.
 It should be made mandatory for political
parties to give a minimum number of tickets,
about one-third, to women candidates.
 There should be state funding of elections.
 The government should give parties money to
support their election expenses.

There are two other ways in which political

parties can be reformed-

 One, people can put pressure on political

parties. This can be done through petitions,
publicity and agitations
 Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and
movements and the media can play an
important role in this.
 If political parties feel that they would lose
public support by not taking up reforms, they
would become more serious about reforms.
 Two, political parties can improve if those
who want this join political parties.

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Chapter- 7  Promotes equality among citizens;

 Enhances the dignity of the individual;
 Improves the quality of decision making;
Outcomes of Democracy  Provides a method to resolve conflicts; and
 Allows room to correct mistakes.
How do we assess democracy’s outcomes?

 Economic growth and development

 Reduction of inequality and poverty
 Accommodation of social diversity
 Dignity and freedom of the citizens

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Chapter- 8  But measures that rely on democratic

movements, citizens’ organisations and the
media are likely to succeed.
Challenges to Democracy
Political reforms
 Countries face the foundational challenge of
making the transition to democracy and then Sometimes the results may be counter-
instituting democratic government. productive.
 Most of the established democracies face the  For example, many states have banned people
challenge of expansion who have more than two children from
 The third challenge of deepening of contesting panchayat elections.
democracy is faced by every democracy in one  This has resulted in denial of democratic
form or another opportunity to many poor and women, which
was not intended.
 Generally, laws that seek to ban something are
 Democratic reforms are to be brought about not very successful in politics.
principally through political practice.  Laws that give political actors incentives to do
 Therefore, the main focus of political reforms good things have more chances of working.
should be on ways to strengthen democratic  The best laws are those which empower
practice. people to carry out democratic reforms.
 The most important concern should be to  The Right to Information Act is a good
increase and improve the quality of political example of a law that empowers the people to
participation by ordinary citizens find out what is happening in government and
 Any proposal for political reforms should act as watchdogs of democracy.
think not only about what is a good solution  Such a law helps to control corruption and
but also about who will implement it and how. supplements the existing laws that banned
corruption and imposed strict penalties.
 It is not very wise to think that the legislatures
will pass legislations that go against the
interest of all the political parties and MPs.

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Redefining democracy

 The rulers elected by the people must take all

the major decisions;
 Elections must offer a choice and fair
opportunity to the people to change the
current rulers;
 This choice and opportunity should be
available to all the people on an equal basis;
and
 The exercise of this choice must lead to a
government limited by basic rules of the
constitution and citizens’ rights.

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CLASS- XI (Indian Constitution at Work)

POLITICAL SCIENCE
Chapter- 1
CONSTITUTION: WHY AND HOW?

What is Constitution in layman language?

A constitution is a body of fundamental

principles according to which a state is Fundamental identity of a people
constituted or governed.
 One has many sets of identities that exist prior
WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION? to a constitution. But by agreeing to certain
basic norms and principles one constitutes one’s
1) Constitution allows coordination and assurance basic political identity.
 Second, constitutional norms are the
 The first function of a constitution is to overarching framework within which one
provide a set of basic rules that allow for pursues individual aspirations, goals and
minimal coordination amongst members of freedoms.
a society
 Third and finally, it may be the case that many
2) Specification of decision making powers basic political and moral values are now shared
across different constitutional traditions.
 The second function of a constitution is to
specify who has the power to make
decisions in a society. It decides how the
government will be constituted.
Indian Constitution as Living Document
3) Limitations on the powers of government
 The Indian Constitution is described as ‘a living’
 Third function of a constitution is to set
document.
some limits on what a government can
 By striking a balance between the possibility to
impose on its citizens. These limits are
change the provisions and the limits on such
fundamental in the sense that government
changes, the Constitution has ensured that it
may never trespass them
will survive as a document respected by people
4) Aspirations and goals of a society  This arrangement also ensures that no section
or group can, on its own, subvert the
 The fourth function of a constitution is to Constitution
enable the government to fulfill the
aspirations of a society and create How was the Indian Constitution made?
conditions for a just society.
 Constitution was made by the Constituent
Assembly which had been elected for undivided
India.
 First sitting- 9 December1946

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 Re-assembled as Constituent Assembly for  The numbers in the Assembly were reduced to
divided India on 14 August 1947 299 of which 284 were actually present on 26
 Its members were elected by indirect election by November 1949 and appended their signature
the members of the Provisional Legislative to the Constitution as finally passed.
Assemblies that had been established in 1935.  Members of the Assembly were not elected by
universal suffrage; there was a serious attempt
to make the Assembly a representative body.
Cabinet Mission  26 members from Scheduled Classes
 Congress dominated the Assembly 82% of the
The Constituent Assembly was composed
seats
roughly along the lines suggested by the plan
proposed by the committee of the British Procedures
cabinet, known as the Cabinet Mission.
 The Constituent Assembly had 8 major
According to this plan- Committees on different subjects.
 Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad,
 Each Province and each Princely State or
Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad or Ambedkar
group of States were allotted seats
chaired these Committees.
proportional to their respective population
 The Assembly met for one hundred and sixty six
roughly in the ratio of 1:10,00,000.
days, spread over two years and eleven months.
 As a result the Provinces (that were under
direct British rule) were to elect 292 Inheritance of the nationalist movement
members while the Princely States were
allotted a minimum of 93 seats.  For decades preceding the promulgation of the
 The seats in each Province were distributed Constitution, the nationalist movement had
among the three main communities, debated many questions that were relevant to
Muslims, Sikhs and general, in proportion to the making of the constitution — the shape and
their respective populations. form of government India should have the
 Members of each community in the values it should uphold, the inequalities it
Provisional Legislative Assembly elected should overcome.
their own representatives by the method of  Perhaps the best summary of the principles that
proportional representation with single the nationalist movement brought to the
transferable vote. Constituent Assembly is the Objectives
 The method of selection in the case of Resolution (the resolution that defined the aims
representatives of Princely States was to be of the Assembly) moved by Nehru in 1946.
determined by consultation.  This resolution encapsulated the aspirations
and values behind the Constitution.
 Based on this resolution, our Constitution gave
institutional expression to these fundamental
Composition of the Constituent Assembly
commitments: equality, liberty, democracy,
 As a consequence of the Partition under the sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.
plan of 3 June 1947 those members who were  Thus, our Constitution is not merely a maze of
elected from territories which fell under rules and procedures, but a moral commitment
Pakistan ceased to be members of the to establish a government that will fulfil the
Constituent Assembly.
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many promises that the nationalist movement  The basic principle is that government must be
held before the people. democratic and committed to the welfare of the
people.
 The Constituent Assembly adopted
parliamentary form and the federal
arrangement, which would distribute
Main points of the Objectives Resolution governmental powers between the legislature
and the executive on the one hand and between
 India is an independent, sovereign,
the States and the central government on the
republic;
other hand.
 India shall be a Union of erstwhile British
 The framers of the Constitution borrowed a
Indian territories, Indian States, and other
number of provisions from different countries.
parts outside British India and Indian
States as are willing to be a part of the  Each provision of the Constitution had to be
Union; defended on grounds that it was suited to
Indian problems and aspirations.
 Territories forming the Union shall be
autonomous units and exercise all powers Provisions borrowed from constitutions of
and functions of the Government and
administration, except those assigned to or
vested in the Union;
 All powers and authority of sovereign and
independent India and its constitution shall
flow from the people;
 All people of India shall be guaranteed and
secured social, economic and political
justice; equality of status and opportunities
and equality before law; and fundamental
freedoms - of speech, expression, belief,
faith, worship, vocation, association and
action - subject to law and public morality;
 The minorities, backward and tribal areas,
depressed and other backward classes shall
be provided adequate safeguards;
 The territorial integrity of the Republic and
its sovereign rights on land, sea and air
shall be maintained according to justice and different countries
law of civilized nations;
 The land would make full and willing
contribution to the promotion of world
Mode of promulgation-
peace and welfare of mankind.
 India, South Africa and the United States, are
constitutions which were created in the
Institutional arrangements
aftermath of popular national movements.

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 The Indian Constitution was never subject to
referendum (where all the people vote on the
desirability of a Constitution), but nevertheless
carried enormous public authority, because it
Debate over Constitution making in Nepal
had the consensus and backing of leaders who
were themselves popular.  Since 1948, Nepal has had five constitutions, in
 Although the Constitution itself was not 1948, 1951, 1959, 1962 and 1990.
subjected to a referendum, the people adopted  But all these constitutions were ‘granted’ by the
it as their own by abiding by its provisions. King of Nepal.
 The 1990 constitution introduced a multiparty
The substantive provisions of a constitution- competition, though the King continued to hold
final powers in many respects.
Allowed permanent majorities to oppress minority  For the last ten years Nepal was faced with
groups within society would give minorities no militant political agitations for restructuring the
reason to go along with the provision of the government of the country.
constitution.  The main issue was the role of the monarchy in
the constitution of Nepal.
Balanced institutional design-  Some groups in Nepal wanted to abolish the
institution of monarchy and establish
 Constitutions are often subverted, not by the republican form of government in Nepal.
people, but by small groups, who wish to  Others believed that it may be useful to shift to
enhance their own power. limited monarchy with a reduced role for the
King.
 No single institution acquires monopoly of
 The King himself was not ready to give up
power powers.
 Independent statutory bodies like the Election  He took over all powers in October 2002.
Commission  Many political parties and organisations were
 Separation of powers Legislature, Executive and demanding the formation of a new constituent
the Judiciary assembly.
 The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was in
the forefront of the struggle for a popularly
elected constituent assembly.
 Finally, under pressure of popular agitation, the
King had to instil a government acceptable to
the agitating parties.
 This government has stripped the King of
almost all powers.
 Now, all the parties are trying to decide the
manner in which a constituent assembly will be
formed.

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2) Right to Privacy
3) Right to fair labour practices
4) Right to healthy environment and right to
protection of environment
Chapter- 2
5) Right to adequate housing
6) Right to health care, food, water and social
RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN security
CONSTITUTION 7) Children’s rights
8) Right to basic and higher education
9) Right of cultural, religious and linguistic
What is Bill of Rights? communities
10) Right to information
 A list of rights mentioned and protected
by the constitution is called the ‘bill of FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN
rights’. CONSTITUTION
 A bill of rights prohibits government from
thus acting against the rights of the  1928- Motilal Nehru committee had demanded
individuals and ensures a remedy in case a bill of rights
there is violation of these rights.  The Constitution listed the rights that would be
specially protected and called them
‘fundamental rights’.
 Fundamental Rights are protected and
Bill of rights in the South African
guaranteed by the constitution of the country.
Constitution
 Ordinary rights may be changed by the
 The South African Constitution was legislature by ordinary process of law making,
inaugurated in December 1996. but a fundamental right may only be changed
 The South African Constitution says that its by amending the Constitution itself.
“Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in  Judiciary has the powers and responsibility to
South Africa”. protect the fundamental rights from violations
 It forbids discrimination on the grounds of by actions of the government.
“race, gender, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic  Executive as well as legislative actions can be
or social origin, color, age, disability, religion, declared illegal by the judiciary if these violate
conscience, belief, culture, language and birth”. the fundamental rights or restrict them in an
unreasonable manner.
Some of the Rights included in the constitution of  However, fundamental rights are not absolute
South Africa include: or unlimited rights.
1) Right to Dignity  Government can put reasonable restrictions on
the exercise of our fundamental rights.

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RIGHT TO EQUALITY  The same right also provides that the state shall
confer no title on a person except those who
 There cannot be any discrimination in this excel themselves in military or academic field.
access on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex,
religion, or place of birth. Thus right to equality strives to make India a true
 It also prohibits any discrimination in public democracy by ensuring a sense of equality of
employment on any of the above mentioned dignity and status among all its citizens.
basis.
Article 21: Protection of life and personal
 The practice of untouchability is one of the
liberty—No person shall be deprived of his life or
crudest manifestations of inequality. This has
personal liberty except according to procedure
been abolished under the right to equality.
established by law

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 The Supreme Court has ruled that this right also
includes right to live with human dignity, free
Article 16 (4)- from exploitation.
 Nothing in this article shall prevent the State  The court has held that right to shelter and
from making any provision for the reservation livelihood is also included in the right to life
of appointments or posts in favour of any because no person can live without the means of
backward class of citizens which, in the opinion living, that is, the means of livelihood.
of the State, is not adequately represented in Preventive detention
the services under the State.
 Ordinarily, a person would be arrested after he
The Constitution clarifies that the government can
or she has reportedly committed some offence.
implement special schemes and measures for
 However there are exceptions to this.
improving the conditions of certain sections of
 Sometimes a person can be arrested simply out
society: children, women, and the socially and
of an apprehension that he or she is likely to
educationally backward classes.
engage in unlawful activity and imprisoned for
RIGHT TO FREEDOM some time without following the above
mentioned procedure. This is known as
 Equality and freedom or liberty, are the two preventive detention.
rights thatare most essential to a democracy.  It means that if the government feels that a
 Liberty means freedom of thought, person can be a threat to law and order or to the
expression and action. peace and security of the nation, it can detain or
 Freedoms are defined in such a arrest that person.
manner that every person will enjoy  This preventive detention can be extended only
her freedom without threatening for three months.
freedom of others and without  After three months such a case is brought
endangering the law and order before an advisory board for review.
situation.
Other freedoms
Right to life and personal liberty
 Each of these is subject to restrictions imposed
 No citizen can be denied his or her life except by by the government.For example right to
procedure as laid down under the law. freedom of speech and expression is subject to
 Similarly no one can be denied his/her personal restrictions such as public order, peace and
liberty.That means no one can be arrested morality etc.
without being told the grounds for such an  Freedom to assemble too is to be exercised
arrest. peacefully and without arms.
 It is mandatory for the police to take that  The government may impose restrictions in
person to the nearest magistrate within 24 certain areas declaring theassembly of five or
hours. more persons as unlawful.
 The magistrate, who is not part of the police,  The genuine protest against an act or policy of
will decide whether the arrest is justified or not. government by the people may be denied
 This right is not just confined to a guarantee permission.
against taking away of an individual’s life but
has wider application.

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Rights of accused  Persons following a religion different from that
of the ruler were either persecuted or forced to
 No one is guilty unless the court has found that convert to the official religion of the rulers.
person guilty of an offence.  Therefore, democracy has always incorporated
 It is also necessary that a person accused of any the freedom to follow the religion of one’s
crime should get adequate opportunity to choice as one of its basic principles.
defend herself or himself.
Equality of all religions
To ensure a fair trial in courts, the
Constitution has provided three rights-  Being a country which is home to several
religions, it is necessary that the government
a) no person would be punished for the must extend equal treatment to different
same offence more than once, religions.
b) no law shall declare any action as  Negatively, it means that government will not
illegal from a backdate, and favour any particular religion.
c) No person shall be asked to give  The institutions run by the state will not preach
evidence against himself or herself. any religion or give religious education nor will
they favour persons of any religion.

Freedom of faith and worship

RIGHT AGAINST EXPLOITATION
Freedom of religion includes
 One form of exploitation in our country has
been begar or forced labour without payment. a) Freedom of conscience.
b) Freedom to profess, follow and
 Another closely related form of exploitation is
propagate any religion.
buying and selling of human beings and using
them as slaves. Freedom of religion is subject to certain
 Both of these are prohibited under the limitations-
Constitution.
 Forced labour was imposed by landlords,  The government can impose restrictions on the
money lenders and other wealthy persons in the practice of freedom of religion in order to
past. protect public order, morality and health.
 The Constitution also forbids employment of  This means that the freedom of religion is not
children below the age of 14 years in dangerous an unlimited right.
jobs like factories and mines.  The government can interfere in religious
 With child labour being made illegal and right matters for rooting out certain social evils.
to education becoming a fundamental right for  For example in the past, the government has
children, this right against exploitation has taken steps banning practices like sati, bigamy
become more meaningful. or human sacrifice.

RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS

 Historically, there were rulers and emperors in  A fundamental right is the right of the
different parts of the world who did not allow minorities to maintain their culture. This
residents of their countries to enjoy the right to minority status is not dependent only upon
freedom of religion. religion.
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 Linguistic and cultural minorities are also RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES
included in this provision.
 Dr. Ambedkar considered the right to
Minorities are groups that have common constitutional remedies as ‘heart and soul of the
language or religion and in a particular part constitution’.
of the country or in the country as a whole,  Reason- This right gives a citizen the right to
they are outnumbered by some other social approach a High Court or the Supreme Court to
section. get any of the fundamental rights restored in
case of their violation.
 All minorities, religious or linguistic, can set
 The Supreme Court and the High Courts can
up their own educational institutions. The
issue orders and give directives to the
government will not, while granting aid to
government for the enforcement of rights.
educational institutions, discriminate
against any educational institution on the
basis that it is under the management of
minority community.
The courts can issue various special orders known as writs-

Writs

Habeas corpus:
A writ of habeas Certiorari:
Quo Warranto:
corpus means that the Mandamus: Prohibition: Under this writ,
court orders that the If the court finds that
the court orders
arrested person This writ is issued This writ is issued by a person is holding
a lower court or
should be presented when the court finds a higher court (High office but is not another
before it. that a particular office Court or Supreme entitled to hold that
authority to
holder is not doing Court) when a lower office, it issues the
It can also order to set legal duty and thereby court has considered transfer a matter
writ of quo Warranto
free an arrested pending before it
is infringing on the a case going beyond and restricts that
person if the manner right of an individual. to the higher
its jurisdiction. person from acting as
or grounds of arrest authority or
an office holder.
are not lawful or court.
satisfactory.

DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY  The governments passed several zamindari

abolition bills, nationalised banks, enacted
 Not made legally enforceable; Thus, these numerous factory laws, fixed minimum
guidelines are ‘non-justiciable’ i.e., parts of wages, cottage and small industries were
the Constitution that cannot be enforced by promoted and provisions for reservation for
the judiciary. the uplift of the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes were made.

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 Such efforts to give effect to the Directive over the country, partial right to work under
Principles include the right to education, employment guarantee programme and the
formation of Panchayati raj institutions all mid-day meal scheme etc.

Fundamental Duties of citizens Principles exhort the government to do certain

things.
 In 1976, the 42nd amendment to the  Fundamental Rights mainly protect the rights
Constitution was passed. of individuals while directive principles ensure
 In all, ten duties were enumerated. the well-being of the entire society.
 However, the Constitution does not say  However, at times, when government intends to
anything about enforcing these duties. implement Directive Principles of State Policy,
 As citizens, we must abide by the Constitution, it can come in conflict with the Fundamental
defend our country, promote harmony among Rights of the citizens
all citizens, and protect the environment.
 Constitution does not make the enjoyment of Example-
rights dependent or conditional upon fulfilment
 This problem arose when the government
of duties.
sought to pass laws to abolish zamindari
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN system.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DIRECTIVE  These measures were opposed on the ground
PRINCIPLES that they violated right to property.
 The government claimed that rights can be
 Fundamental Rights restrain the government abridged for giving effect to Directive
from doing certain things while Directive Principles.

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 This argument assumed that rights were a Human Rights Commission
hindrance to welfare of the people.
 Independent organizations like the People’s
On the other hand, the court held the view that Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) or People’s
Fundamental Rights were so important and Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) have been
sacred that they cannot be limited even for working as watchdogs against the violations of
purposes of implementing Directive Principles. rights.

Right to Property National Human Rights Commission-

 Originally, there was a fundamental right to  Established in 2000

‘acquire, possess and maintain’ property.  Composed of a former chief justice of the
 But the Constitution made it clear that property Supreme Court of India, a former judge of the
could be taken away by the government for Supreme Court, a former chief justice of a High
public welfare. Court and two other members who have
 Since 1950, government made many laws that knowledge and practical experience in matters
limited this right to property. relating to human rights.
 Finally, in 1973, the Supreme Court gave a  The commission’s functions include inquiry at
decision that the right to property was not part its own initiative or on a petition presented to it
of the basic structure of the Constitution and by a victim into complaint of violation of human
therefore, parliament had power to abridge this rights; visit to jails to study the condition of the
right by an amendment. inmates; undertaking and promoting research
 In 1978, the 44th amendment to the in the field of human rights etc.
Constitution removed the right to property from  Its most significant intervention has been on
the list of Fundamental Rights and converted it disappeared youth in Punjab and investigation
into a simple legal right. and trial of Gujarat riot cases where its
intervention proved effective.
Kesavananda Bharati case  The commission does not have the power of
prosecution.
 This related to the amendment of the
Constitution.  It can merely make recommendations to the
government or recommend to the courts to
 The government was saying that Parliament can
initiate proceedings based on the inquiry that it
amend any part of the Constitution.
conducts.
 The court was saying that Parliament cannot
make an amendment that violated Fundamental
Rights.
 This controversy was settled by an important
decision of the Supreme Court in Kesavananda
Bharati case.

In this case, the court said that there are certain

basic features of the Constitution and these cannot
be changed by Parliament.

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Chapter- 3 Proportional Representation

 Each party fills its quota of seats by picking

ELECTION AND REPRESENTATION those many of its nominees from a preference
list that has been declared before the elections.
ELECTION SYSTEM IN INDIA  This system of elections is called the
Proportional Representation (PR) system.
First Past the Post System
 In this system a party gets the same proportion
of seats as its proportion of votes.
 In the Lok Sabha elections of 1984, the
Congress party came to power winning 415 of In the PR system there could be two variations.
the 543 Lok Sabha seats – more than 80% of
the seats. 1) In some countries, like Israel or
 The Congress party won four-fifths of the seats. Netherlands, the entire country is treated as
 The Congress party got 48% of the votes. This one constituency and seats are allocated to
means that only 48% of those who voted, voted each party according to its share of votes in
in favour of the candidates put up by the the national election.
Congress party, but the party still managed to
2) The other method is when the country is
win more than 80% of the seats in the Lok
divided into several multi-member
Sabha
constituencies as in Argentina and Portugal.
Method of elections-
 Each party prepares a list of candidates for
 The entire country is divided into 543 each constituency, depending on how many
constituencies; have to be elected from that constituency.
 Each constituency elects one representative;  In both these variations, voters exercise
and their preference for a party and not a
 The candidate who secures the highest number candidate.
of votes in that constituency is declared elected.  The seats in a constituency are distributed
 It is important to note that in this system on the basis of votes polled by a party. Thus,
whoever has more votes than all other representatives from a constituency, would
candidates is declared elected. and do belong to different parties.
 The winning candidate need not secure a  In India, we have adopted PR system on a
majority of the votes.This method is called the limited scale for indirect elections.
First Past the Post (FPTP) system.  In India, PR system for the election of
 In the electoral race, the candidate who is ahead President, Vice President, and for the
of others, who crosses the winning post first of election to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan
all, is the winner. This method is also called the Parishads.
Plurality System.
 This is the method of election prescribed by the
Constitution.

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How does PR work in Rajya Sabha  For example if 4 Rajya Sabha members have to
elections? be elected by the 200 MLAs in Rajasthan, the
winner would require (200/4+1= 40+1) 41
 Every State has a specific quota of seats votes.
in the Rajya Sabha.  When the votes are counted it is done on the
 The members are elected by the basis of first preference votes secured by each
respective State legislative assemblies. candidate, of which the candidate has secured
 The voters are the MLAs in that State. the first preference votes.
 Every voter is required to rank  If after the counting of all first preference votes,
candidates according to her or his required number of candidates fails to fulfill the
preference. quota, the candidate who secured the lowest
votes of first preference is eliminated and
To be declared the winner, a candidate must
his/her votes are transferred to those who are
secure a minimum quota of votes, which is
mentioned as second preference on those ballot
determined by a formula-
papers.
 This process continues till the required number
of candidates is declared elected.

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Why did India adopt the FPTP system?  The system has also discouraged political
parties that get all their votes only from one
 PR is a complicated system which may work in caste or community.
a small country, but would be difficult to work
in a sub-continental country like India. RESERVATION OF CONSTITUENCIES
 The reason for the popularity and success of the
FPTP system is its simplicity.  In this system, all voters in a constituency are
eligible to vote but the candidates must belong
 The entire election system is extremely simple
to only a particular community or social section
to understand even for common voters who
may have no specialised knowledge about for which the seat is reserved.
politics and elections.  The Constitution provides for reservation of
 The FPTP system offers voters a choice not seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative
simply between parties but specific candidates. Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes
 In other electoral systems, especially PR
systems, voters are often asked to choose a  This provision was made initially for a period of
party and the representatives are elected on the 10 years and as a result of successive
basis of party lists. constitutional amendments, has been extended
up to 2010.
 As a result, there is no one representative who
represents and is responsible for one locality.  The Parliament can take a decision to further
extend it, when the period of reservation
 In constituency based system like the FPTP, the
expires.
voters know who their own representative is
and can hold him or her accountable.  The number of seats reserved for both of these
groups is in proportion to their share in the
 More importantly, the makers of our
population of India.
Constitution also felt that PR based election
may not be suitable for giving a stable  Today, of the 543 elected seats in the Lok
government in a parliamentary system. Sabha, 79 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and
41 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
 PR system may not produce a clear majority
because seats in the legislature would be The success of India’s election system can be
divided on the basis of share of votes. gauged from a number of factors-
 The FPTP system generally gives the largest
party or coalition some extra bonus seats, more  Our election system has allowed the voters
than their share of votes would allow. not only to freely choose representatives,
 FTPT system encourages voters from different but also to change governments peacefully
social groups to come together to win an both at the State and national level.
election in a locality.
 Secondly, voters have consistently taken a
 In a diverse country like India, a PR system
keen interest in the election process and
would encourage each community to form its
participated in it. The number of candidates
own nation-wide party. This may also have been
and parties that contest elections is on the
at the back of the mind of our constitution
rise.
makers.
 The FPTP system has proved to be simple and  Thirdly, the system of election has proved to
familiar to ordinary voters. It has helped larger be accommodative and inclusive. The social
parties to win clear majorities at the centre and composition of our representatives has
the State level. changed gradually. Now our representatives
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come from many different social sections,  Adult franchise ensures that all citizens are able
though the number of women legislators has to participate in the process of selecting their
not increased satisfactorily. representative.
 However, there are different minimum age
 Fourthly, the election outcome in most parts
requirements for contesting elections.
of the country does not reflect electoral
malpractices and rigging. Of course, many For example, in order to stand for Lok Sabha or
attempts at rigging do take place. Assembly election, a candidate must be at least 25
years old
 Finally and most importantly, elections have
become a part and parcel of our democratic  There are some other restrictions also.
life.  For instance, there is a legal provision that a
person who has undergone imprisonment for
Delimitation Commission two or more years for some offence is
disqualified from contesting elections.
 Decides which constituency is to be reserved
 But there are no restrictions of income,
 Appointed by the President of India and works
education or class or gender on the right to
in collaboration with the Election Commission
contest elections.
of India.
 In this sense, our system of election is open to
 Appointed for the purpose of drawing up the
all citizens.
boundaries of constituencies all over the
country. Independent Election Commission
 A quota of constituencies to be reserved in each
State is fixed depending on the proportion of SC  Article 324 of the Indian Constitution provides
or ST in that State. for an independent Election Commission for the
 After drawing the boundaries, the Delimitation ‘superintendence, direction and control of the
Commission looks at the composition of electoral roll and the conduct of elections’ in
population in each constituency. India.
 Those constituencies that have the highest  To assist the Election Commission of India
proportion of Scheduled Tribe population are there is a Chief Electoral Officer in every state.
reserved for ST.  The Election Commission is not responsible for
 Reservation of seats for women has been the conduct of local body elections.
provided for in rural and urban local bodies.  The Election Commission of India can either be
a single member or a multi-member body.
Universal franchise and right to contest  Till 1989, the Election Commission was single
member.
 Democratic elections require that all adult
 Just before the 1989 general elections, two
citizens of the country must be eligible to vote
in the elections. This is known as universal Election Commissioners were appointed,
adult franchise. making the body multi-member.
 Soon after the elections, the Commission
 Till 1989, an adult Indian meant an Indian
citizen above the age of 21. reverted to its single member status.
 An amendment to the Constitution in 1989,  In 1993, two Election Commissioners were once
again appointed and the Commission became
reduced the eligibility age to 18.
multi-member and has remained multi-
member since then.
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 The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) poll. It can postpone or cancel the election in
presides over the Election Commission, but the entire country or a specific State or
does not have more powers than the other constituency on the grounds that the
atmosphere is vitiated and therefore, a free and
Election Commissioners.
fair election may not be possible.
 The CEC and the two Election Commissioners  Implements a model code of conduct for parties
have equal powers to take all decisions relating and candidates. It can order a re-poll in a
to elections as a collective body. specific constituency.
 They are appointed by the President of India on  It can also order a recount of votes when it feels
the advice of the Council of Ministers. that the counting process has not been fully fair
and just.
 It is therefore possible for a ruling party to
 Accords recognition to political parties and
appoint a partisan person to the Commission allots symbols to each of them.
who might favour them in the elections.  During the election process, the administrative
 The Constitution ensures the security of the officers of the State and central governments
tenure of the CEC and Election Commissioners. are assigned election related duty and in this
 They are appointed for a six year term or respect, the Election Commission has full
continue till the age of 65, whichever is earlier. control over them.
 The EC can transfer the officers, or stop their
 The CEC can be removed before the expiry of
transfers; it can take action against them for
the term, by the President if both Houses of
failing to act in a non-partisan manner.
Parliament make such a recommendation with
 Functioning of institutions does not require
a special majority.
legal or constitutional change.
 The Election Commissioners can be removed by
 Many more State assembly elections and bye
the President of India.
elections have been conducted by the Election
Commission.
Special majority means-
 Two-thirds majority of that present
and voting, and simple majority of the
total membership of the House.

Functions-

 It supervises the preparation of up-to-date

voters’ list. It makes every effort to ensure that
the voters’ list is free of errors like nonexistence
of names of registered voters or existence of
names of those non-eligible or non-existent.
 Determines the timing of elections and prepares
the election schedule.
 The election schedule includes the notification
of elections, date from which nominations can
be filed, last date for filing nominations, last
date of scrutiny, last date of withdrawal, date of
polling and date of counting and declaration of
results.
 During this entire process, the EC has the
power to take decisions to ensure a free and fair

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ELECTORAL REFORMS
 With the acceptance of adult suffrage, freedom to contest
elections, and the establishment of an independent Election
Commission, India has tried to make its election process free and
fair.
 However, the experience of the last fifty five years has given rise
to many suggestions for reforming our election system.
Some suggestions-
 Our system of elections should be changed from the FPTP to
some variant of the PR system. This would ensure that parties
get seats, as far as possible, in proportion to the votes they get.
 There should be a special provision to ensure that at least one
third women are elected to the parliament and assemblies.
 There should be stricter provisions to control the role of money
in electoral politics. The elections expenses should be paid by the
government out of a special fund.
 Candidates with any criminal case should be barred from
contesting elections, even if their appeal is pending before a
court.
 There should be complete ban on the use of caste and religious
appeals in the campaign.
 There should be a law to regulate the functioning of political
parties and to ensure that they function in a transparent and
democratic manner.
 Apart from legal reforms, there are two other ways of ensuring
that elections reflect the expectations and democratic
aspirations of the people.
 One is, of course, that people themselves have to be more
vigilant, more actively involved in political activities.
 But there are limits to the extent to which ordinary people can
engage in politics on a regular basis.
 Therefore, it is necessary that various political institutions and
voluntary organizations are developed and are active in
functioning as watchdog for ensuring free and fair elections.

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Chapter 4 minister as well as the ministers but cannot
dismiss them as they are responsible to the
parliament.
EXECUTIVE  Japan has a parliamentary system with the
Emperor as the head of the state and the prime
Different types of government-
minister as the head of government.
 USA- Presidential system and executive powers  Italy has a parliamentary system with the
are in the hands of the president. president as the formal head of state and the
 Canada- Parliamentary democracy with a prime minister as the head ofgovernment.
constitutional monarchy where Queen  Russia has a semi-presidential system where
Elizabeth II is the formal chief of state and the presidentis the head of state and prime
prime minister is the head of government. minister, who is appointed by thepresident, is
 In France, both the president and the prime the head of government.
minister are a part of the semi- presidential  Germany has a parliamentarysystem in which
system. The president appoints the prime president is the ceremonial head of state and
thechancellor is the head of government

Presidential System-  In a presidential system, the president is the

Head of state as well as head of government.

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 In this system the office of president is very  Examples- Germany, Italy, Japan, United
powerful, both in theory and practice. Kingdom and Portugal
 Examples- United States, Brazil and most
nations in Latin America Semi-presidential system

Semi-Presidential Executive in Sri Lanka  A semi-presidential system has both a president

and aprime minister but unlike the
 In 1978 the constitution of Sri Lanka was parliamentary system the presidentmay possess
amended and the system of Executive significant day-to-day powers.
Presidency was introduced.  In this system, it ispossible that sometimes the
 Under the system of ExecutivePresidency, president and the prime minister maybelong to
people directly elect the President. It may the same party and at times they may belong to
happen that boththe President and the Prime two differentparties and thus, would be
Minister belong to the same political partyor to opposed to each other.
different political parties.  Examples- France, Russia, Sri Lanka
 The President has vast powers under the
constitution. PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTIVE IN INDIA
 The Presidentchooses the Prime Minister from  Earlier parliamentary system under the Acts of
the party that has a majority in theParliament. 1919 and 1935.
 Though ministers must be members of the  In the parliamentary form there are many
Parliament, thePresident has the power to mechanisms that ensure that the executive will
remove the Prime Minister, or ministers. be answerable to and controlled by the
 Apart from being the elected Head of State and legislature or people’s representatives.
the Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces,
the President is also the Head of
theGovernment. Power and position of President
 Elected for a term of six years, the President
Article 74 (1):
cannot be removedexcept by a resolution in the
parliament passed by at least two-thirdsof the  There shall be a Council of Ministers with
total number of Members of Parliament. the Prime Minister at the head to aid and
 If it is passed by not lessthan one-half of the advise the President who shall in the
total number of Members of Parliament and exercise of his functions, act in accordance
theSpeaker is satisfied that such allegations with such advice.
merit inquiry then the Speakercan report the  A specific mention was made in the
matter to the Supreme Court. Constitution by an amendment that the
advice of the Council of Ministers will be
Parliamentary system
binding on the President.
 In a parliamentary system, the prime minister  By another amendment made later, it was
is the head ofgovernment. decided that the President can ask the
 Most parliamentary systems have a president or Council of Ministers to reconsider its advice
amonarch who is the nominal Head of state. In but, has to accept the reconsidered advice of
such a system, therole of president or monarch the Council of Ministers.
is primarily ceremonial and primeminister
along with the cabinet wields effective power.

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Article 109

 Special procedure in respect of Money

Discretionary Powers of the President Bills.—(1)
 A Money Bill shall not be introduced in the
3 situations Council of States

1) President can send back the advice given by the

Council of Ministers and ask the Council to
reconsider the decision
2) President also has veto power by which he can
withhold or refuse to give assent to Bills (other The Vice President of India
than Money Bill) passed by the Parliament.
3) President appoints the Prime Minister.  Elected for 5 years.
Normally, in the parliamentary system, a leader  His election method is similar to that of the
who has the support of the majority in the Lok President; the only difference is that members
Sabha would be appointed as Prime Minister of State legislatures are not part of the
and the question of discretion would not arise Electoral College.
 The Vice President may be removed from his
Indian Post office (amendment) bill- office by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed
by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha.
 In 1986, the Parliament passed a bill known as  ex- officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and
Indian Post office (amendment) bill. This bill
 Takes over the office of the President when
was widely criticised by many for it sought to
there is a vacancy by reasons of death,
curtail the freedom of the press.
resignation, removal by impeachment or
 The then President, Gyani Zail Singh, did not otherwise.
take any decision on this bill. After his term was
 The Vice President acts as the President only
over, the next President, Venkataraman sent the
until a new President is elected.
bill finally back to the Parliament for
 B. D. Jatti acted as President on the death of
reconsideration.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed until a new President
 By that time, the government that brought the
was elected.
bill before the Parliament had changed and a
new government was elected in 1989. Prime Minister (PM)
 This government belonged to a different
coalition and did not bring the bill back before  a leader who has the support of the majority is
the Parliament. Thus, Zail Singh’s decision to appointed by the President as PM
postpone giving assent to the bill effectively  PM then decides who will be the ministers in
meant that the bill could never become a law the Council of Ministers.
 The Prime Minister allocates ranks and
portfolios to the ministers.
 Depending upon the seniority and political
importance, the ministers are given the ranks of
cabinet minister, minister of State or deputy
minister.

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 In the same manner, Chief Ministers of the  Besides, when no party had a clear majority,
States choose ministers from their own party or there was a temptation to win over the support
coalition. of the members of the Parliament by giving
 If someone becomes a minister or Prime them ministerial positions as there was no
Minister without being an MP, such a person restriction on the number of the members of the
has to get elected to the Parliament within six Council of Ministers.
months  This was happening in many States also.
 Therefore, an amendment was made that the
Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 percent
of total number of members of the House of
People (or Assembly, in the case of the States).

Position of Prime Minister in India-

Council of Ministers
 In India, the Prime Minister enjoys a pre-
eminent place in the government.  The Council of Ministers is collectively
 The Council of Ministers cannot exist responsible to the Lok Sabha.
without the Prime Minister.  This provision means that a Ministry which
 The Council comes into existence only after loses confidence of the Lok Sabha is obliged to
the Prime Minister has taken the oath of resign.
office.  The principle indicates that the ministry is an
 The death or resignation of the Prime executive committee of the Parliament and it
Minister automatically brings about the collectively governs on behalf of the Parliament.
dissolution of the Council of Ministers but
the demise, dismissal or resignation of a State Government
minister only creates a ministerial vacancy.
 The Prime Minister acts as a link between  Governor of the State is appointed by the
the Council of Ministers on the one hand President (on the advice of the central
and the President as well as the Parliament government).
on the other.  Though the Chief Minister, like the Prime
 It is this role of the Prime Minister which Minister is the leader of the majority party in
ledPt. Nehru to describe him as ‘the the Assembly, the Governor has more
linchpin of Government’ discretionary powers.

Size of the Council of Ministers PERMANENT EXECUTIVE: BUREAUCRACY

 Before 91st Amendment Act (2003), the size of  The Executive organ of the government includes
the Council of Ministers was determined the Prime Minister, the ministers and a large
according to exigencies of time and organisation called the bureaucracy or the
requirements of the situation. administrative machinery
 But this led to very large size of the Council of
Ministers.

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 The administrative officers cannot act in
violation of the policies adopted by the
legislature
 Bureaucracy will not take any political position
on policy matters
 It consists of the All-India services, State
services, employees of the local governments,
and technical and managerial staff running
public sector undertakings.

UPSC (Union Public Service Commission)

 Entrusted with the task of conducting the

process of recruitment of the civil servants
 Tenure- fixed; 6 years
 Their removal or suspension is subject to a
thorough enquiry made by a judge of the
Supreme Court.
 Constitution has provided for reservation of
jobs for the Dalits and Adivasis

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 Parliament enacts the budget, scrutinizing the

Chapter 5 performance of government with respect of
LEGISLATURE financial spending through financial
committees.
Why do we need Parliament?  It has the power to impeach the President, the
Vice-President, the judges of the Supreme Court
We need a Parliament to ensure that you have and the High Court.

 Freedom of speech, movements and States having a bicameral legislature-

association,
 To ensure that there is no misuse of authority 1) Bihar,
by elected leaders as constitution describes 2) Jammu and Kashmir,
their powers and limitations to select the 3) Karnataka,
national government to control guide, and 4) Maharashtra,
inform the government for making laws. 5) Uttar Pradesh
 It makes Law on behalf of the People and
amends Constitution.

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Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha

 Represents the States of India  directly elected by the people

 Indirectly elected body  One representative is elected from
 The elected members of State Legislative Assembly in turn elect each constituency through
the members of Rajya Sabha universal, adult suffrage where the
 States with larger population get more representatives than States value of vote of every individual
with smaller population get would be equal to another.
 Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a term of six years.  5 Years
(Re- election)  Can be dissolved if no party or
 Every two years, 1/3rd members of the Rajya Sabha complete their coalition can form the government
term and elections are held for those one third seats only or if the Prime Minister advices
 Never fully dissolved (Permanent House) the President to dissolve the Lok
 12 nominated members by President from among those persons Sabha and hold fresh elections
who have made their mark in the fields of literature, arts, social
service, science etc.

2 different principles of representation in the

second chamber-
2. Control of Executive and ensuring its
 One way is to give equal representation to all accountability-
the parts of the country irrespective of their size
or population Ensure that the executive does not overstep its
authority and remains responsible to the people
 On the other hand, parts of the country may be
who have elected them.
given representation according to their
population 3. Financial Function
WHAT DOES THE PARLIAMENT DO?  Government raises resources through taxation
1. Legislative Function-  If the Government of India proposes to
introduce any new tax, it has to get the approval
 Approves legislations. of the Lok Sabha.
 The actual task of drafting the bill is performed  Grant of resources to the government to
by the bureaucracy under the supervision of the implement its programmes
minister concerned.
Representation-
 The substance and even the timing of the bill
are decided by the Cabinet.  Parliament represents the divergent views
 No major bill is introduced in the Parliament of members from different regional, social,
without the approval of the Cabinet. economic, religious groups of different parts
 Members other than ministers can also of the country.
introduce bills but these have no chance of
being passed without the support of the 4. Debating Function-
government.

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 There is no limitation on its power of 6. Electoral functions-
discussion.
It elects the President and Vice President of India.
 Helps to analyse any or every issue that faces
the nation. 7. Judicial functions
5. Constituent Function- Includes considering the proposals for removal of
President, Vice-President and Judges of High
 Power of discussing and enacting changes to the
Courts and Supreme Court.
Constitution.
 All constitutional amendments have to be
approved by a special majority of both Houses.

Special Powers of Rajya Sabha Special Powers of Lok Sabha

 Any matter that affects the States must be referred  The Rajya Sabha cannot initiate, reject or amend
to it for its consent and approval money bills.
 Thus, if the Union Parliament wishes to remove a  The Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok
matter from the State list (over which only the Sabha and not Rajya Sabha.
State Legislature can make law) to either the  Therefore, Rajya Sabha can criticise the
Union List or Concurrent List in the interest of the government but cannot remove it.
nation, the approval of the Rajya Sabha is
necessary.

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Money Bill case  Amendments to the bill, suggested by Rajya
Sabha, may or may not be accepted by the Lok
 Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or Sabha.
suggest changes but cannot reject it.
 If it takes no action within 14 days the bill is
deemed to have been passed.
HOW DOES THE PARLIAMENT MAKE LAWS?

HOW DOES THE PARLIAMENT CONTROL  Power and freedom of the legislators as people’s
THE EXECUTIVE? representatives to work effectively and
fearlessly

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 no action can be taken against a member for

whatever the member may have said in the
legislature (parliamentary privilege)
Instruments of Parliamentary Control

1) Deliberation and discussion:

 During the law makingprocess, members of the legislature get an opportunity todeliberate on the policy direction
of the executive and theways in which policies are implemented.
 Apart fromdeliberating on bills, control may also be exercised duringthe general discussions in the House.
 The Question Hour,which is held every day during the sessions of Parliament,where Ministers have to respond to
searching questionsraised by the members; Zero Hour where members arefree to raise any matter that they think
is important(though the ministers are not bound to reply), half-an –hour discussion on matters of public
importance,adjournment motion etc. are some instruments ofexercising control.

2) Approval and ratification of laws:

 A bill can become a law only with the approval of theParliament.

 A government that has the support of adisciplined majority may not find it difficult to get theapproval of the
Legislature.
 Such approvals however,cannot be taken for granted. They are the products ofintense bargaining and negotiations
amongst themembers of ruling party or coalition of parties and evengovernment and opposition.
 If the government hasmajority in Lok Sabha but not in the Rajya Sabha, as hashappened during the Janata Party
rule in 1977 and N.D.Arule in 2000, the government will be forced to makesubstantial concessions to gain the
approval of both theHouses.

3) Financial control:

 Financialresources to implement the programmes of thegovernment are granted through the budget.
 Preparationand presentation of budget for the approval of thelegislature is constitutional obligation of the
government.
 This obligation allows the legislature to exercise control over the purse strings of the government. The legislature
may refuseto grant resources to the government.
 This seldom happens becausethe government ordinarily enjoys support of the majority in theparliamentary system.
 Nevertheless, before granting money the LokSabha can discuss the reasons for which the government
requiresmoney.
 It can enquire into cases of misuse of funds on the basis ofthe report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and
PublicAccounts committees.
 But the legislative control is not only aimed atfinancial propriety.
 The legislature is concerned about the policies ofthe government that are reflected in the budget.
 Through financialcontrol, the legislature controls the policy of the government.

4) No Confidence Motion:

The most powerful weapon that enablesthe Parliament to ensure executive accountability is the no-
confidencemotion.
 As long as the government has the support of its party orcoalition of parties that have a majority in the Lok Sabha,
the powerof the House to dismiss the government is fictional rather than real.
 However, after 1989, several governments have been forced to resigndue to lack of confidence of the house.
 Each of these governmentslost the confidence of the Lok Sabha because they failed to retain thesupport of their
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coalition partners.
MALUKA IAS

WHAT DO THE COMMITTEES OF

PARLIAMENT DO?

 Parliamentary committees- day-to-day business

of the House
 Standing Committees supervise the work of
various departments, their budget, their
expenditure and bills that come up in the house
relating to the department.
 Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs) can be
set up for the purpose of discussing a particular
bill, like the joint committee to discuss bill, or
for the purpose of investigating financial
irregularities.

HOW DOES THE PARLIAMENT REGULATE

ITSELF?

The presiding officer of the legislature is the final

authority in matters of regulating the business of
the legislature.

Anti-defection law-

 52nd amendment act, 1985

 Modified by the 91st amendment
 The presiding officer of the House is the
authority who takes final decisions on all such
cases.

If it is proved that a member has ‘defected’, then

such member loses the membership of the House.
Besides, such a person is also disqualified from
holding any political office like ministership, etc.

What is defection?

 If a member remains absent in the House

whenasked by the party leadership to remain
present or votes against theinstructions of the
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the party, it is deemed as defection.
MALUKA IAS
 In 1973 A. N. Ray was appointed as CJI
superseding three senior Judges.
 Again, Justice M.H. Beg was appointed
superseding Justice H.R. Khanna (1975).
 The other Judges of the Supreme Court and the
High Court are appointed by the President after
‘consulting’ the CJI.
Chapter 6
Removal of Judges

JUDICIARY  A judge of SC or HC can be removed only on the

ground of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
Independence of Judiciary-
 A motion containing the charges against the
 Other organs of the government like the judge must be approved by special majority in
executive and legislature must not restrain the both Houses of the Parliament.
functioning of the judiciary in such a way that it
Unsuccessful Attempt to Remove a Judge
is unable to do justice.
 Judges must be able to perform their functions  In 1991 the first-ever motion to remove a
without fear or favour. Supreme Court Justice was signed by 108
 The judges have a fixed tenure. members of Parliament. JusticeRamaswamy,
 Only in exceptional cases, judges may be during his tenure as the Chief Justice ofthe
removed. But otherwise, they have security of Punjab High Court was accused of
tenure. misappropriatingfunds.
 The Constitution prescribes a very difficult  In 1992, a year after the Parliament had started
procedure for removal of judges. the impeachment proceedings, a high-profile
 The judiciary is not financially dependent on inquirycommission consisting of Judges of
either the executive or legislature. Supreme Court foundJustice V. Ramaswamy
 The Constitution provides that the salaries and “guilty of wilful and gross misusesof office . . .
allowances of the judges are not subjected to the and moral turpitude by using public funds
approval of the legislature. forprivate purposes and reckless disregard of
 The judiciary has the power to penalise those statutoryrules” while serving as Chief Justice of
who are found guilty of contempt of court Punjab andHaryana.
 Parliament cannot discuss the conduct of the  Despite this strong indictment,
judges except when the proceeding to remove a Ramaswamysurvived the parliamentary motion
judge is being carried out. recommendingremoval.
 The motion recommending his removal got
Appointment of Judges therequired two-third majority among the
members who werepresent and voting, but the
 A convention had developed whereby the
Congress party abstainedfrom voting in the
senior-most judge of the Supreme Court was
House.
appointed as the Chief Justice of India.
 Therefore, the motion could notget the support
 This convention was however broken twice.
of one-half of the total strength of theHouse.
STRUCTURE OF THE JUDICIARY

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Original Jurisdiction-  Of course, the SC holds the powers to decide
whether to admit appeals even when appeal is
 Means cases that can be directly considered by not allowed by the HC.
the SC without going to the lower courts before  Appellate jurisdiction means that the SC will
that. reconsider the case and the legal issues involved
 OJ of the SC establishes it as an umpire in all in it.
disputes regarding federal matters.  If the Court thinks that the law or the
 In any federal country, legal disputes are bound Constitution has a different meaning from what
to arise between the Union and the States; and the lower courts understood, then the Supreme
among the States themselves. Court will change the ruling and along with that
 It is called original jurisdiction because the SC also give new interpretation of the provision
alone has the power to deal with such cases. involved.
 Neither the High Courts nor the lower courts  HCs too, have appellate jurisdiction
can deal with such cases.
 In this capacity, the Supreme Court not just Advisory Jurisdiction
settles disputes but also interprets the powers of
Union and State government as laid down in the  President of India can refer any matter that is of
Constitution. public importance or that which involves
interpretation of Constitution to Supreme Court
Writ Jurisdiction for advice.
 However, the Supreme Court is not bound to
 Any individual, whose fundamental right has give advice on such matters and the President
been violated, can directly move the SC for is not bound to accept such an advice.
remedy.
 The SC can give special orders in the form of The utility is two-fold-
writs.
 In the first place, it allows the government to
 The HCs can also issue writs, but the persons
seek legal opinion on a matter of importance
whose rights are violated have the choice of
before taking action on it. This may prevent
either approaching the HC or approaching the
unnecessary litigations later.
SC directly.
 Secondly, in the light of the advice of the
 Through such writs, the Court can give orders to
Supreme Court, the government can make
the executive to act or not to act in a particular
suitable changes in its action or legislations.
way.

Appellate Jurisdiction

 A person can appeal to the SC against the

decisions of the HC
 However, HC must certify that the case is fit for
appeal, that is to say that it involves a serious
matter of interpretation of law or Constitution.
 In addition, in criminal cases, if the lower court
has sentenced a person to death then an appeal
can be made to HC or SC

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JUDICIAL ACTIVISM  Secondly, the Supreme Court can declare the

concerned law as unconstitutional and
 Through Public Interest Litigation (PIL) or therefore non-operational (article 13)
Social Action Litigation (SAL)
 In normal course of law, an individual can
approach the courts only if he/she has been Judicial Review
personally aggrieved.
 That is to say, a person whose rights have been  Judicial Review means the power of the Supreme
violated, or who is involved in a dispute, could Court (or High Courts) to examine the
move the court of law. constitutionality of any law if the Court arrives at
 In 1979, the Court set the trend when it the conclusion that the law is inconsistent with
decided to hear a case where the case was filed the provisions of the Constitution, such a law is
not by the aggrieved persons but by others on declared as unconstitutional and inapplicable.
their behalf.  The term judicial review is nowhere mentioned in
 Through the PIL, the court has expanded the the Constitution.
idea of rights. Clean air, unpolluted water,  The review power extends to the laws passed by
decent living etc. are rights for the entire State legislatures also
society
 Post 1980s- judiciary has also shown readiness
to take into consideration rights of those JUDICIARY AND PARLIAMENT
sections who cannot easily approach the
courts.  It gave directions to CBI to initiate
 For this purpose, the judiciary allowed public
investigations against politicians and
spirited citizens, social organisations and
lawyers to file petitions on behalf of the needy bureaucrats in the Hawala case, the Narasimha
and the deprived. Rao case, illegal allotment of petrol pumps case
etc.
Disadvantages of PILs-  Constitution provides that the conduct of judges
 Overburdened the courts cannot be discussed in the Parliament.
 Judicial activism has blurred the line of
distinction between the executive and
legislature Kesavananda Bharati case-
 The court has been involved in resolving
questions which belong to the executive. Thus,  In this case, the Court ruled that there is a basic
for instance, reducing air or sound pollution or structure of the Constitution and nobody—not
investigating cases of corruption or bringing even the Parliament (through amendment)—can
about electoral reform is not exactly the dutyof violate the basic structure.
the Judiciary.
 First, it said that right to property (the disputed
 These are matters to be handled by
theadministration under the supervision of the issue) was not part of basic structure and
legislatures. Therefore,some people feel that therefore could be suitably abridged.
judicial activism
JUDICIARY AND RIGHTShas made the balance  Secondly, the Court reserved to itself the right to
amongthe three organs of government very decide whether various matters are part of the
 It delicate.
can restore fundamental rights by issuing basic structure of the Constitution.
 writs
Democratic
of Habeasgovernmentis based onetc.
Corpus; mandamus each organ
(article
of government respecting the powers
32). The High Courts
andjurisdiction of thealso have the power to
others.
 issue such writs
Judicial (article
activism may226)
be creating strainson
this democratic principle.

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Chapter 7

FEDERALISM Article 1:
The most important feature of the federal system (1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
adopted by the Indian Constitution is the principle
that relations between the States and the centre (2) The States and the territories thereof shall be
would be based on cooperation. as specified in the First Schedule.

FEDERALISM WITH A STRONG CENTRAL  Even during normal circumstances, the central
GOVERNMET government has very effective financial powers
and responsibilities.
 The very existence of a State including its  Governor has certain powers to recommend
territorial integrity is in the hands of Parliament dismissal of the State government and the
 The Constitution has certain very powerful dissolution of the Assembly.
emergency provisions, which can turn our  There may be occasions when the situation may
federal polity into a highly centralised system
demand that the central government needs to
once emergency is declared
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legislate on matters from the State list (if the Article 257 (1)
move is ratified by the Rajya Sabha)
 An integrated administrative system The executive power of every State shall be so
exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise
 The all-India services are common to the entire
of the executive power of the Union, and the
territory of India and officers chosen for these
executive power of the Union shall extend to the
services serve in the administration of the
giving of such directions to a State as may appear to
States.
the Government of India to be necessary for that
 Articles 33 and 34 authorise the Parliament to
purpose.
protect persons in the service of the union or a
state in respect of any action taken by them Role of Governors and President’s Rule
during martial law to maintain or restore order.
Governor is appointed by the central government
CONFLICTS IN INDIA’S FEDERAL SYSTEM and therefore, actions of the Governor are often
viewed as interference by the Central government
 From time to time, States have demanded that
in the functioning of the State government.
they should be given more powers and more
autonomy. President’s rule (Article 356)
 This leads to tensions and conflicts in the
relations between the centre and the States.  This provision is to be applied, when ‘a situation
 While the legal disputes between the centre and has arisen in which the Government of the State
the States (or between States) can be resolved cannot be carried on in accordance with the
by the judiciary, demands for autonomy are of provisions of this Constitution.’
political nature and need to be resolved through  The President’s proclamation has to be ratified
negotiations. by Parliament.
 President’s rule can be extended till three years.
Centre-State Relations  The Governor has the power to recommend the
dismissal of the State government and
 Sometimes, demands expect that the division of
suspension or dissolution of State assembly.
powers should be changed in favour of the
 Some cases went to the Supreme Court and the
States and more powers and important powers
Court has ruled that constitutional validity of
be assigned to the States.
the decision to impose President’s rule can be
 Another demand is that States should have
examined by the judiciary.
independent sources of revenue and greater
control over the resources. (Financial Demands for New States
autonomy)
 Autonomy demands relates to administrative  In the course of the national movement itself, it
powers of the States. was decided that as far as possible, States would
 Autonomy demands may also be related to be created on the basis of common cultural and
cultural and linguistic issues. linguistic identity.
 The Sarkaria Commission that was appointed  1954- States Reorganisation Commission was
by the central government (1983; it submitted set up and it recommended the creation of
its report in 1988) to examine the issues linguistic States, at least for the major linguistic
relating to centre-State relations, recommended groups.
that appointments of Governors should be  1960- Gujarat and Maharashtra
strictly non-partisan.  1966- Punjab and Haryana were separated

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 Later, the north-east region was reorganised  In another similar dispute Gujarat, Madhya
and several new States were created like, Pradesh andMaharashtra are battling over
Meghalaya, Manipur or Arunachal Pradesh. sharing the waters ofNarmada River.
 Rivers are a major resource and
Interstate Conflicts therefore,disputes over river waters test the
patience and cooperativespirit of the States
 Broadly, two types of disputes keep recurring.
 One is the border dispute. States have certain SPECIAL PROVISIONS
claims over territories belonging to
neighbouring States. Though language is the  Most of the special provisions pertain to the
basis of defining boundaries of the States,often north eastern States (Assam, Nagaland,
border areas would have populations speaking Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.) largely due
morethan one language. to a sizeable indigenous tribal population with a
 So, it is not easy to resolve this disputemerely distinct history and culture, which they wish to
on the basis of linguistic majority. retain (Art 371).
 One of the longstandingborder disputes is the  Special provisions also exist for hilly States like
dispute betweenMaharashtra and Karnataka Himachal Pradesh and some other States like
over the city of Belgaum. Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra
 Manipur and Nagaland too, have a long- and Sikkim.
standing borderdispute.
 The carving out of Haryana from the
erstwhileState of Punjab has led to dispute
between the two Statesnot only over border
areas, but over the capital city ofChandigarh.
 This city today houses the capital of boththese
States.
 In 1985, the then Prime Minister RajivGandhi
reached an understanding with the leadership
of Punjab.
 According to this understanding, Chandigarhwas to
be handed over to Punjab. But this has nothappened
yet.
 While border disputes are more about
sentiment, thedisputes over the sharing of river
waters are even moreserious, because they are
related to problems of drinkingwater and
agriculture in the concerned States.
 Cauvery water dispute- This is amajor issue
between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Farmersin
both the States are dependent on Cauvery
waters.
 Though there is a river water tribunal to settle
waterdisputes, this dispute has reached the
Supreme Court.

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Jammu and Kashmir

 According to Article 370, the concurrence of the State is required for making any laws in matters mentioned in the
Union and Concurrent lists
 In the case of Jammu and Kashmir, the central government has only limited powers and other powers listed in the
Union List and Concurrent List can be used only with the consent of the State government.
 President, with the concurrence of the State government, to specify which parts of the Union List shall apply to the
State.
 The President has issued two Constitutional orders in concurrence with the Government of J&K making large parts
of the Constitution applicable to the State.
 As a result, though J&K has a separate constitution and a flag, the Parliament’s power to make laws on subjects in
the Union List now is fully accepted.
 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 the State and the Directive Principles do not apply
in J&K.
 Finally, amendments to the Indian Constitution (under Art. 368) can only apply in concurrence with the
government of J&K.

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Chapter 8

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

73RD AND 74TH AMENDMENTS Local Governments in Independent India

 The 73rd Amendment is about rural local  Community Development Programme (1952)-
governments (which are also known as to promote people’s participation in local
Panchayati Raj Institutions or PRIs) and the development in a range of activities
74th amendment made the provisions relating  In 1989 the P.K.Thungon Committee
to urban local government (Nagarpalikas). recommended constitutional recognition for the
 The 73rd and 74th Amendments came into force local government bodies.
in 1993.  A constitutional amendment to provide for
 local government is a ‘State subject’ periodic elections to local government
institutions, and enlistment of appropriate
functions to them, along with funds, was
GROWTH OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN INDIA
recommended.
 Elected local government bodies were created after 73rd Amendment
1882.
 Lord Rippon, who was the Viceroy of India at that Three Tier Structure-
time, took the initiative in creating these bodies.
They were called the local boards.  Base- Gram Panchayat (covers a village or
 However, due to slow progress in this regard, the group of villages)
Indian National Congress urged the government to  The intermediary level is the Mandal (also
take necessary steps to make all local bodies more referred to as Block or Taluka)- called Mandal
effective. or Taluka Panchayats
 Following the Government of India Act 1919,  At the apex is the Zila Panchayat covering the
village Panchayats were established in a number of entire rural area of the District.
provinces.
Gram Sabha-
 This trend continued after the Government of India
Act of 1935.  The Gram Sabha would comprise of all the adult
 During India’s freedom movement, Mahatma members registered as voters in the Panchayat
Gandhi had strongly pleaded for decentralisation of area.
economic and political power.  Its role and functions are decided by State
 When the Constitution was prepared, the subject of legislation.
local government was assigned to the States.
 Mentioned in the Directive Principles Elections
 So, non-justiciable and primarily advisory in its  All the three levels of Panchayati Raj
nature. institutions are elected directly by the people.
 The term of each Panchayat body is five years.
 If the State government dissolves the Panchayat
before the end of its 5 year term, fresh elections

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must be held within six months of such
dissolution.
 Before the 73rd amendment, in many States,
there used to be indirect elections to the district
bodies and there was no provision for
immediate elections after dissolution.

Reservations

 1/3rd- women
 Reservations for SC and ST are also provided
for at all 3 levels, in proportion to their
population.
 If the States find it necessary, they can also
provide for reservations for the backward castes
(OBCs).
 Also applies to the positions of Chairpersons or
‘Adhyakshas’ at all the three levels.
 Reservation of one-third of the seats for women
is not merely in the general category of seats but
also within the seats reserved for SC, ST and
backward castes.

Transfer of Subjects

 29 subjects
 Listed in 11th schedule
 Each State decides how many of these
twenty-nine subjects would be
transferred to the local bodies.
 Provisions of the 73rd amendment were not State Election Commissioners
made applicable to the areas inhabited by the  State government appoints
Adivasi populations in many States of India.
 To conduct elections to the Panchayati
 In 1996, a separate act was passed extending
Raj institutions.
the provisions of the Panchayat system to these
 Earlier, this task was performed by the
areas.
State administration which was under
 Many Adivasi communities have their
the control of the State government.
traditional customs of managing common
resourcessuch as forests and small water However, the State Election Commissioner is an
reservoirs, etc. independent officer and is not linked to nor is this
 More powers are given to the Gram Sabhas of officer under the control of the Election
these areas and elected village Panchayats have Commission of India
to getthe consent of the Gram Sabha in many
respects.

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State Finance Commission number of women elected representatives have
come to occupy these positions.
 State government appoints State Finance
Commission once in 5 years
 This Commission would examine the financial
position of the local governments in the State.
 It would also review the distribution of
revenues between the State and local
governments on the one hand and between
rural and urban local governments on the other.

74th Amendment

All the provisions of the 73rd amendment relating

to direct elections, reservations, transfer of
subjects, State Election Commission and State
Finance Commission are incorporated in the 74th
amendment also and thus apply to Nagarpalikas.

The Census of India defines an urban area as

having:

 A minimum population of 5000;

 at least 75 per cent of male working population
engaged in non-agricultural occupations and
 A density of population of at least 400 persons
per sq. km.

IMPLEMENTATION OF 73RD AND 74TH

AMENDMENTS

 The 73rd and 74th amendments have created

uniformity in the structures of Panchayati Raj
and Nagarpalika institutions across the country.
 The presence of these local institutions is by
itself a significant achievement and would
create an atmosphere and platform for people’s
participation in government.
 The provision for reservation for women at the
Panchayats and Nagarpalikas has ensured the
presence of a significant number of women in
local bodies.
 As this reservation is also applicable for the
positions of Sarpanch and Adhyaksha, a large

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Chapter 9 Factors have made our Constitution a living
document are as follows-

CONSTITUTION AS A LIVING DOCUMENT 1) Constitution accepts the necessity of

modifications according to changing needs
In a sense, the basic structure doctrine has further of the society
consolidated the balance between rigidity 2) In the actual working of the Constitution,
andflexibility: by saying that certain parts cannot be there has been enough flexibility of
amended, it has underlined the rigid nature while interpretations
by allowing amendments to all others it has
underlined the flexiblenature of the amending
process.
HOW TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION?

PROCEDURE FOR AMENDMENT the legislatures of half of the states by a simple

majority, that is, a majority of the members of
1) Initiated only by the introduction of a bill for the House present and voting.
the purpose in either House of Parliament and 6) After duly passed by both the Houses of
not in the state legislatures. Parliament and ratified by the state legislatures,
2) Bill----introduced ----either by a minister/ where necessary, the bill is presented to the
private member and does not require prior president for assent.
permission of the president. 7) The president must give his assent to the bill.
3) Must be passed in each House by a special He can neither withhold his assent to the bill
majority, that is, a majority (that is, more than nor return the bill for reconsideration of the
50 per cent) of the total membership of the Parliament.
House and a majority of two-thirds of the 8) bill becomes an Act (i.e., a constitutional
members of the House present and voting.Each amendment act)
House must pass the bill separately.
4) In case of a disagreement between the two Special Majority
Houses, there is no provision for holding a joint
sitting of the two Houses for the purpose of Amendment to the Constitution requires two
deliberation and passage of the bill. different kinds of special majorities:
5) If the bill seeks to amend the federal provisions
of the Constitution, it must also be ratified by

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a) Those voting in favour of the amendment bill  It has set specific limits to the Parliament’s
should constitute at least half of the total power to amend the Constitution. It says that
strength of that House. no amendment can violate the basic structure of
b) Secondly, the supporters of the amendment bill the Constitution;
must also constitute two-thirds of those who  It allows the Parliament to amend any and all
actually take part in voting. parts of the Constitution (within this
limitation); and
Both Houses of the Parliament must pass the
 It places the Judiciary as the final authority in
amendment bill separately in this same manner
deciding if an amendment violates basic
(there is no provision for a joint session).
structure and what constitutes the basic
Ratification by States structure.

When it required? Contribution of the Judiciary

 When an amendment aims to modify an  During the controversy between the Judiciary
article related to distribution of powers and the Parliament, the Parliament thought
between the States and the central that it had the power and responsibility to make
government, or articles related to laws (and amendments) for furthering the
representation interests of the poor, backward and the needy.
 The Judiciary insisted that all this has to take
15th amendment- place within the framework provided by the
Constitution and pro-people measures should
Increased the age of retirement of High Court not bypass legal procedures
judges from 60 to 62 years
 The Court came to the conclusion that in
55th amendment- reading a text or document, we must respect the
intent behind that document.
Salaries of judges of High Courts and the Supreme
Court were increased Review of the Constitution

42nd amendment-  In the late nineties, efforts were made to review

the entire Constitution.
a) Mini Constitution
b) Duration of the Lok Sabha was extended
 In the year 2000 a commission to review the
from five to six years working of the Constitution was appointed by
c) Fundamental duties included theGovernment of India under the
d) Put restrictions on the review powers of chairmanshipof a retired Chief Justice of the
the Judiciary SupremeCourt, Justice Venkatachaliah.
 Oppositionparties and many other
BASIC STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF organisationsboycotted the commission.
THE CONSTITUTION  While a lot ofpolitical controversy surrounded
thiscommission, the commission stuck to
Theory of basic structure is itself an example of a thetheory of basic structure and did not
living constitution suggestany measures that would endanger the
Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) basicstructure of the Constitution.
 This shows thesignificance of the basic
structure doctrinein our constitutional practice.

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Chapter 10  To protect religious freedom of individuals, a
The Philosophy of the Constitution state must not help religious organisations
 State should not tell religious organisations how
There were also some procedural achievements-
to manage their affairs
 Indian Constitution reflects a faith in
Respect for diversity and minority rights
political deliberation.
 It reflects a spirit of compromise and  The Indian Constitution encourages equal
accommodation respect between communities
 Constitution reinforces a common  Right of religious communities to establish and
national identity. run their own educational institutions.
 Separate electorates were rejected not because  Such institutions may receive money from the
they fostered difference between religious government.
communities as such or because they
endangered a simple notion of national unity Individual freedom
but because India, had a right to take part in the
affairs of the country and be admitted to public  Freedom of expression
office.  Fundamental rights
 The Motilal Nehru Report (1928) reaffirms this
Social Justice
conception of citizenship, reiterating that every
person of either sex who has attained the age of Classical liberalism always privileges rights of the
twenty-one is entitled to vote for the House of individuals over demands of social justice and
Representatives or Parliament. community values
 Thus from very early on, universal franchise
was considered as the most important and WHAT IS THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
legitimate instrument by which the will of the OF OUR CONSTITUTION?
nation was to be properly expressed.
 It resists any single label because it is liberal,
Special status to some states of India democratic, egalitarian, secular, and federal,
open to community values, sensitive to the
 Article 370- Jammu and Kashmir needs of religious and linguistic minorities as
 Article 371A- privilege of special status was well as historically disadvantaged groups, and
accorded to the North-Eastern State of committed to building a common national
Nagaland identity.
 A political philosophy approach to the
Federalism constitution is needed not only to find out the
By introducing the articles concerning Jammu and moral content expressed in it and to evaluate its
Kashmir ( Art. 370) and the North-East (Art. 371), claims but possibly to use it to arbitrate
the Indian Constitution anticipates the very between varying interpretations of the many
important concept of asymmetric federalism core values in our polity.

Secularism

 Not originally mentioned

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Achievements of our Constitution-

 First, our Constitution reinforces and

reinvents forms of liberal individualism.
This is an important achievement
because this is done in the backdrop of a
society where community values are
often indifferent or hostile to individual
autonomy.
 Second, our Constitution upholds the
principle of social justice without
compromising on individual liberties.
The constitutional commitment to caste-
based affirmative action programme
shows how much ahead India was
compared to other nations.
 Third, against the background of inter-
communal strife, the Constitution
upholds its commitment to group rights
(the right to the expression of cultural
particularity). This indicates that the
framers of the Constitution were more
than willing to face the challenges of
what more than four decades later has
come to be known as multiculturalism.

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Class X
Understanding Economic Development
school and higher education beyond secondary
CHAPTER I school.
DEVELOPMENT  Per Capita Income is calculated in dollars for all
countries so that it can be compared so that
 For comparing countries, their income is every dollar would buy the same amount of
considered to be one of the most important goods and services in any country.
attributes  Groundwater overuse is particularly found in
 Average income- the total income of the country the agriculturally prosperous regions of Punjab
divided by its total population. and Western U.P., hard rock plateau areas of
 The average income is also called per capita central and south India, some coastal areas and
income the rapidly growing urban settlements.”
 World Development Report- by the World
Bank,
 Infant Mortality Rate (or IMR) - indicates the
number of children that die before the age of
one year as a proportion of 1000 live children
born in that particular year.
 Literacy Rate measures the proportion of
literate population in the 7 and above age
group.
 Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of
children of age group 6-10 attending school as a
percentage of total number of children in the
same age group.
 Money may also not be able to protect you from
infectious diseases, unless the whole of your
community takes preventive steps.
 Human Development Report published by
UNDP compares countries based on the
educational levels of the people, their health
status and per capita income.
 Life Expectancy at birth denotes, as the name
suggests, average expected length of life of a
person at the time of birth.
 Gross Enrolment Ratio for three levels means
enrolment ratio for primary school, secondary

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CHAPTER-2  An activity like dairy, we are dependent on the
biological process of the animals and
SECTORS OF INDIAN availability of fodder.
ECONOMY  The product here, milk, also is a natural
product. Similarly, minerals and ores are also
Primary sector- natural products.
 When we produce a good by exploiting natural
The cultivation of cotton resources, it is an activity of the primary sector,
also called agriculture and related sector.
 Takes place within a crop season, we depend
mainly on natural factors like rainfall, sunshine
and climate.

Secondary sector  It is the next step after primary.

 Product is not produced by nature but has to be
 Covers activities in which natural products are made and therefore some process of
changed into other forms through ways of manufacturing is essential.
manufacturing that we associate with industrial
 In a factory, a workshop or at home, also called
activity.
as industrial sector

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 For example, goods that are produced in the

primary or secondary sector would need to be
transported by trucks or trains and then sold in
wholesale and retail shops also called the
service sector.
 The value of final goods and services produced
in each sector during a particular year provides
the total production of the sector for that year
and the sum of production in the three sectors
gives what is called the Gross Domestic Product
Tertiary sector- (GDP) of a country.
 GDP- the value of all final goods and services
 These activities, by themselves, do not produce produced within a country during a particular
a good but they are an aid or a support for the year.
production process.

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Why is the tertiary sector becoming so  If the government fails in its duty to provide
important in India? employment, it will give unemployment
allowances to the people.
There could be several reasons.
 The types of work that would in future help to
 First, in any country several services such as increase the production from land will be given
hospitals, educational institutions, post and preference under the Act.
telegraph services, police stations, courts,
village administrative offices, municipal
corporations, defence, transport, banks,
insurance companies, etc. are required. These
can be considered as basic services. Organised sector
 In a developing country the government has to
 Covers those enterprises or places of work
take responsibility for the provision of these
where the terms of employment are regular and
services.
therefore, people have assured work.
 Second, the development of agriculture and
 They are registered by the government and have
industry leads to the development of services
to follow its rules and regulations which are
such as transport, trade, storage and the like, as
given in various laws such as the Factories Act,
we have already seen.
Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Gratuity Act,
 Greater the development of the primary and
Shops and Establishments Act etc.
secondary sectors, more would be the demand
 It is called organised because it has some formal
for such services.
processes and procedures.
 Third, as income levels rise, certain sections of
 Some of these people may not be employed by
people start demanding many more services
anyone but may work on their own but they too
like eating out, tourism, shopping, private
have to register themselves with the
hospitals, private schools, professional training
government and follow the rules and
etc.
regulations.
 Fourth, over the past decade or so, certain new
 Workers in the organised sector enjoy security
services such as those based on information and
of employment.
communication technology have become
 They are expected to work only a fixed number
important and essential. The production of
of hours.
these services has been rising rapidly.
 Workers in agricultural sector are The unorganized sector
underemployed.
 Characterized by small and scattered units
India recently made a law implementing the which are largely outside the control of the
Right to Work in 200 districts of India. It is government.
called National Rural Employment  There are rules and regulations but these are
Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA 2005). not followed.
 Jobs here are low-paid and often not regular.
 Under NREGA 2005, all those who are able to,  There is no provision for overtime, paid leave,
and are in need of, work are guaranteed 100 holidays, leave due to sickness etc. Employment
days of employment in a year by the is not secure.
government.
 People can be asked to leave without any
reason. When there is less work, such as during

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some seasons, some people may be asked to  The casual workers in both rural and urban
leave. areas need to be protected.
 A lot also depends on the whims of the  In the public sector, the government owns most
employer. of the assets and provides all the services.
 This sector includes a large number of people  In the private sector, ownership of assets and
who are employed on their own doing small delivery of services is in the hands of private
jobs such as selling on the street or doing repair individuals or companies.
work. Similarly, farmers work on their own and  Activities in the private sector are guided by the
hire labourers as and when they require. motive to earn profits.
 In the urban areas, unorganized sector  To get such services we have to pay money to
comprises mainly of workers in small-scale these individuals and companies.
industry, casual workers in construction, trade  The purpose of the public sector is not just to
and transport etc., and those who work as street earn profits. Governments raise money through
vendors, head load workers, garment makers, taxes and other ways to meet expenses on the
rag pickers etc. services rendered by it.
 Small-scale industry also needs government’s
support for procuring raw material and
marketing of output.

FORMAL SECTOR CREDIT IN INDIA

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CHAPTER-3 the mode of repayment together comprise what
is called the terms of credit.
MONEY AND CREDIT  The former are loans from banks and
cooperatives.
 When both parties agree to sell and buy each  The informal lenders include moneylenders,
other’s commodities. It is known as double traders, employers, relatives and friends, etc.
coincidence of wants.  The Reserve Bank of India supervises the
 It is a matter where a person desires to sell is
functioning of formal sources of loans.
exactly what the other wishes to buy.
 The banks maintain a minimum cash balance
 Barter system -where goods are directly
out of the deposits they receive.
exchanged without the use of money where
 The RBI monitors the banks in actually
double coincidence of wants is an essential
maintaining cash balance.
feature.
 The RBI sees that the banks give loans not just
 Money acts as an intermediate in the exchange to profit-making businesses and traders but
process, it is called a medium of exchange.
also to small cultivators, small scale industries,
 Deposits in the bank accounts can be to small borrowers etc.
withdrawn on demand; these deposits are called
 Periodically, banks have to submit information
demand deposits.
to the RBI on how much they are lending, to
 Demand deposits offer another interesting
whom, at what interest rate, etc.
facility.
 There is no organisation which supervises the
 It is this facility which lends it the essential
credit activities of lenders in the informal
characteristics of money (that of a medium of
sector.
exchange).
 Higher cost of borrowing means a larger part of
 Banks charge a higher interest rate on loans
the earnings of the borrowers is used to repay
than what they offer on deposits.
the loan.
 The difference between what is charged from
 Cheap and affordable credit is crucial for the
borrowers and what is paid to depositors is
country’s development.
their main source of income.
 It is necessary that banks and cooperatives
 Credit (loan) refers to an agreement in which
increase their lending particularly in the rural
the lender supplies the borrower with money,
areas, so that the dependence on informal
goods or services in return for the promise of
sources of credit reduces.
future payment.  While formal sector loans need to expand, it is
 Collateral is an asset that the borrower owns
also necessary that everyone receives these
(such as land, building, vehicle, livestock, loans.
deposits with banks) and uses this as a
 Banks are willing to lend to the poor women
guarantee to a lender until the loan is repaid.
when organised in SHGs, even though they have
 Property such as land titles, deposits with
no collateral as such.
banks, livestock are some common examples of
 SHGs are the building blocks of organisation of
collateral used for borrowing. Interest rate,
the rural poor.
collateral and documentation requirement, and

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CHAPTER-4  Globalization is this process of rapid

integration or interconnection between
GLOBALISATION AND THE
countries.
INDIAN ECONOMY  MNCs are playing a major role in the
globalisation process. More and more goods
 A MNC is a company that owns or controls
and services, investments and technology are
production in more than one nation.
moving between countries.
 MNC is not only selling its finished products
 Tax on imports is an example of trade barrier. It
globally, but more important, the goods and
is called a barrier because some restriction has
services are produced globally.
been set up.
 As a result, production is organized in
 Governments can use trade barriers to increase
increasingly complex ways. MNCs set up
or decrease (regulate) foreign trade and to
factories and offices for production.
decide what kinds of goods and how much of
 The money that is spent to buy assets such as
each, should come into the country.
land, building, machines and other equipment
 Removing barriers or restrictions set by the
is called investment.
government is what is known as liberalisation.
 Investment made by MNCs is called foreign
 With liberalisation of trade, businesses are
investment.
allowed to make decisions freely about what
 Foreign trade thus results in connecting the
they wish to import or export.
markets or integration of markets in different
 The government imposes much less restrictions
countries.
than before and is therefore said to be more
 The result of greater foreign investment and
liberal.
greater foreign trade has been greater
 World Trade Organisation (WTO) is one such
integration of production and markets across
organisation whose aim is to liberalize
countries.
international trade.

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 Started at the initiative of the developed  Industrial zones, called Special Economic Zones
countries, WTO establishes rules regarding (SEZs), are being set up.
international trade, and sees that these rules are  SEZs are to have world class facilities:
obeyed. electricity, water, roads, transport, storage,
 Steps to Attract Foreign Investment In recent recreational and educational facilities.
years, the central and state governments in  Companies who set up production units in the
India are taking special steps to attract foreign SEZs do not have to pay taxes for an initial
companies to invest in India. period of five years.

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CHAPTER-5  Any consumer who receives a service in
whatever capacity, regardless of age, gender and
CONSUMER RIGHTS
nature of service, has the right to choose
 In 1985 United Nations adopted the UN whether to continue to receive the service.
Guidelines for Consumer Protection.  Consumers have the right to seek redressal
 This was a tool for nations to adopt measures to against unfair trade practices and exploitation.
protect consumers and for consumer advocacy  If any damage is done to a consumer, she has
groups to press their governments to do so. the right to get compensation depending on the
 At the international level, this has become the degree of damage.
foundation for consumer movement  There is a need to provide an easy and effective
 Today, Consumers International has become an public system by which this can be done.
umbrella body of 240 organisations from over  Under COPRA, three-tier quasi-judicial
100 countries. machinery at the district, state and national
 A major step taken in 1986 by the Indian levels were set up for redressal of consumer
government was the enactment of the disputes.
Consumer Protection Act 1986, popularly  The district level court deals with the cases
known as COPRA. involving claims up to Rs 20 lakhs, the state
 Consumers have the right to be informed about level courts between Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 1 crore
the particulars of goods and services that they and the national level court deals with cases
purchase. involving claims exceeding Rs 1 crore.
 Consumers can complain and ask for  If a case is dismissed in district level court, the
compensation or replacement if the product consumer can also appeal in state and then in
proves to be defective in any manner. National level courts.
 In recent times, the right to information has  Thus, the Act has enabled us as consumers to
been expanded to cover various services have the right to represent in the consumer
provided by the Government. courts.
 In October 2005, the Government of India  India has been observing 24 December as the
enacted a law, popularly known as RTI (Right to National Consumers’ Day.
Information) Act, which ensures its citizens all  It was on this day that the Indian Parliament
the information about the functions of enacted the Consumer Protection Act in 1986.
government departments.  India is one of the countries that have exclusive
courts for consumer redressal.

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Class- XI
Indian Economic Development

UNIT I DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND

EXPERIENCE (1947-90)
Chapter- 1  zamindari system- Bengal- the profit accruing out
of the agriculture sector went to the zamindars
instead of the cultivators; dates for depositing
INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF specified sums of revenue were fixed
INDEPENDENCE  Production of cash crops

The sole purpose of the British colonial rule in India was INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
to reduce the country to being a feeder economy for
Great Britain’s own rapidly expanding modern industrial Motive of the colonial government-
base.
1) To reduce India to the status of a mere exporter of
LOW LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT important raw materials for the upcoming modern
UNDER THE COLONIAL RULE industries in Britain
2) To turn India into a sprawling market for the
 Before the advent of the British rule- India had an finished products of those industries
independent economy
Second half of 19th century- setting up of cotton and jute
 India was particularly well known for its handicraft
mills
industries in the fields of cotton and silk textiles,
metal and precious stone works etc.
 Cotton mills- Maharashtra and Gujarat
 Textile Industry in Bengal
 Jute mills- dominated by the foreigners were mainly
 The economic policies pursued by the colonial concentrated in Bengal
government in India  concerned more with the
 1907- Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO)
protection and promotion of the economic interests
 Rare capital goods industry
of their home country
 limited area of operation of the public sector
 Colonial government never made any sincere
attempt to estimate India’s national and per capita FOREIGN TRADE-
income
 Country’s growth of aggregate real output during the  India exporter of primary products such as raw silk,
first half of 20th century was less than 2% cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute etc. and
 An importer of finished consumer goods like cotton,
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR silk and woollen clothes and capital goods like light
machinery produced in the factories of Britain.
 Approx. 85% population--- Villages--- Agriculture
 Important characteristic of India’s foreign trade-
 Agricultural productivity- low
generation of a large export surplus
 Stagnation- because of the various systems of land
settlement that were introduced by the colonial
government

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DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITION-

 Before 1921, India was in the first stage of

demographic transition.
 The second stage of transition began after 1921.
 The overall literacy level was less than 16%
 overall mortality rate was very high
 Life expectancy was also very low—44 years in
contrast to the present 66 years

OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE-

 Agriculture- 70-75% workforce

 Manufacturing- 10%
 Services- 15-20%

INFRASTRUCTURE

 Under the colonial regime, basic infrastructure such

as railways, ports, water transport, posts and
telegraphs did develop.
 However, the real motive behind this development
was not to provide basic amenities to the people but
to sub serve various colonial interests.
 British introduced the railways in India in 1850
 It fostered commercialisation of Indian agriculture
 Inland waterways- Uneconomical
 Introduction of the expensive system of electric
telegraph in India

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Chapter- 2  1st phase (approximately mid 1960s up tomid-
1970s)- Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
benefited
Indian Economy 1950-1990  2nd phase (mid-1970s to mid-1980s)- HYV
technology spread to a larger number of states and
 1948- ‘Industrial Policy Resolution’ benefited more variety of crops.
 1950- Planning Commission
 Chairman- Prime Minister Drawbacks of green revolution-

THE GOALS OF FIVE YEAR PLANS-  Increase the disparities between small and big
farmers
The goals of the five year plans are: growth,  HYV crops were also more prone to attack by pests
modernisation, self-reliance and equity
Green revolution would have favoured the rich farmers
Mahalanobis: the Architect of Indian Planning only if the state did not play an extensive role in ensuring
that the small farmer also gains from the new
Mahalanobis established the Indian Statistical Institute
technology.
(ISI) in Calcutta and started a journal, Sankhya, which
still serves as a respected forum for statisticians to INDUSTRY AND TRADE
discuss their ideas
5 year plans place a lot of emphasis on industrial
AGRICULTURE development
 The policy makers of independent India had to Public and Private Sectors in Indian Industrial
address these issues which they did through land Development-
reforms and promoting the use of ‘High Yielding
Variety’ (HYV) seeds which ushered in a revolution  At the time of independence, Indian industrialists
in Indian agriculture.  did not have the capital to undertake investment in
 The low productivity of the agricultural sector forced industrial ventures required for the development of
India to import food from the United States of our economy;
America (U.S.A.).  Nor was the market big enough to encourage
 Equity in agriculture called for land reforms which industrialists to undertake major projects even if
primarily refer to change in the ownership of they had the capital to do so.
landholdings.
 Land ceiling was another policy to promote equity in Industrial Policy Resolution 1956
the agricultural sector. (IPR 1956)
 This means fixing the maximum size of land which
could be owned by an individual.  Formed the basis of the2 FYP
 The purpose of land ceiling was to reduce the  This resolution classified industries into three
concentration of land ownership in a few hands. categories.
1) 1st category- industries which would be
The Green Revolution exclusively owned by the state;
2) 2nd category consisted of industries in which
 Productivity in the agricultural sector was very low the private sector could supplement the
because of the use of old technology and the absence efforts of the state sector, with the state
of required infrastructure for the vast majority of taking the sole responsibility for starting
farmers. new units;
 Increase in production of food grains resulting from 3) 3rd category consisted of the remaining
the use of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds industries which were to be in the private
especially for wheat and rice. sector

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Small-Scale Industry:

In 1955, Karve Committee noted the possibility of using

small-scale industries for promoting rural development.

TRADE POLICY: IMPORT SUBSTITUTION

 The industrial policy that we adopted was closely

related to the trade policy.
 In 1st 7 plans, trade was characterised by what is
commonly called an inward looking trade strategy.
 Technically, this strategy is called import
substitution.
 Protection from imports took two forms: tariffs and
quotas.

Effect of Policies on Industrial Development-

 The proportion of GDP contributed by the industrial

sector increased in the period from 11.8 per cent in
1950-51 to 24.6 per cent in 1990-91
 Protection from foreign competition enabled the
development of indigenous industries in the areas of
electronics and automobile sectors
 The need to obtain a license to start an industry was
misused by industrial houses; a big industrialist
would get a license not for starting a new firm but to
prevent competitors from starting new firms.

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UNIT- II technology up gradation, fiscal policy and foreign
investment, reform policies initiated in 1991
ECONOMIC REFORMS SINCE 1991
Deregulation of Industrial Sector-
Chapter- 3 (i) Industrial licensing under which every entrepreneur
LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION AND had to get permission from government officials to start
GLOBALISATION: AN APPRAISA a firm, close a firm or to decide the amount of goods that
could be produced
 In 1991, India--- economic crisis relating to its
(ii) Private sector was not allowed in many industries
external debt — the government was not able to
make repayments on its borrowings from abroad; (iii) Some goods could be produced only in small scale
foreign exchange reserves industries and
 When expenditure is more than income, the
government borrows to finance the deficit from (iv) Controls on price fixation and distribution of
selected industrial products.
banks and also from people within the country and
from international financial institutions Financial Sector Reforms-
 India agreed to the conditionalities of World Bank
and IMF and announced the New Economic Policy  The reform policies led to the establishment of
(NEP). private sector banks, Indian as well as foreign.
 This set of policies can broadly be classified into two  Foreign investment limit in banks was raised to
groups: the stabilisation measures and the structural around 50 per cent.
reform measures.  Those banks which fulfil certain conditions have
 Stabilisation measures are short-term measures, been given freedom to set up new branches without
intended to correct some of the weaknesses that the approval of the RBI and rationalise their existing
have developed in the balance of payments and to branch networks.
bring inflation under control.  Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) such as
merchant bankers, mutual funds and pension funds
LIBERALISATION are now allowed to invest in Indian financial markets

 Introduced to put an end to these restrictions and Tax Reforms-

open up various sectors of the economy
 Measures were introduced in 1980s in areas of
industrial licensing, export-import policy,
There are two types of taxes: direct and indirect-

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Foreign Exchange Reforms- (i) By withdrawal of the government from ownership and
management of public sector companies and or
1991- to resolve the balance of payments crisis, the rupee
was devalued against foreign currencies (ii) By outright sale of public sector companies.

Trade and Investment Policy Reforms- Privatisation of the public sector enterprises by selling
off part of the equity of PSEs to the public is known as
 Liberalisation of trade and investment regime was disinvestment.
initiated to increase international competitiveness of
industrial production and also foreign investments GLOBALISATION
and technology into the economy.
 The aim was also to promote the efficiency of the  It involves creation of networks and activities
local industries and the adoption of modern transcending economic, social and geographical
technologies. boundaries
 With the help of modern telecommunication links
The trade policy reforms aimed at including the Internet, the text, voice and visual data
in respect of these services is digitised and
(i) Dismantling of quantitative restrictions on transmitted in real time over continents and national
imports and exports boundaries.
 The low wage rates and availability of skilled
(ii) Reduction of tariff rates and
manpower in India have made it a destination for
(iii) Removal of licensing procedures for imports global outsourcing in the post-reform period.

 Import licensing was abolished except in case of World Trade Organisation (WTO)
hazardous and environmentally sensitive industries.
 1995
 Export duties have been removed to increase the
 successor organisation to the General Agreement on
competitive position of Indian goods in the
Trade and Tariff (GATT)
international markets.
 The WTO agreements cover trade in goods as well as
PRIVATISATION services to facilitate international trade (bilateral
and multilateral) through removal of tariff as well as
Government companies are converted into private non-tariff barriers and providing greater market
companies in two ways access to all member countries.

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 India has kept its commitments towards not resulted in increase in tax revenue for the
liberalisation of trade, made in the WTO, by government
removing quantitative restrictions on imports and  In order to attract foreign investment, tax incentives
reducing tariff rates. were provided to foreign investors which further
reduced the scope for raising tax revenues. (Negative
INDIAN ECONOMY DURING REFORMS: AN impact on developmental and welfare expenditures)
ASSESSMENT

 During the reform period, the growth of agriculture

has declined.
 While the industrial sectors reported fluctuation, the
growth of service sector has gone up.
 The Twelfth Plan (2012-2017) envisages the GDP
growth rate at 9 or 9.5%
 Foreign direct investment(FDI) and foreign
institutional investment(FII) increased

Reforms in Agriculture

 Public investment in agriculture sector especially in

infrastructure, which includes irrigation, power,
roads, market linkages and research and extension
(which played a crucial role in the Green
Revolution), has fallen in the reform period.
 Further, the removal of fertiliser subsidy has led to
increase in the cost of production, which has
severely affected the small and marginal farmers.

Results-

 reduction in import duties on agricultural products,

 removal of minimum support price and
 lifting of quantitative restrictions on agricultural
products;

Reforms in Industry

 Cheaper imports replaced the demand for domestic

goods.
 The infrastructure facilities, including power supply,
have remained inadequate due to lack of investment.
 Disinvestment was used to offset the shortage of
government revenues rather than using it for the
development of PSEs and building social
infrastructure in the country

Reforms and Fiscal Policies

 The tax reductions in the reform period, aimed at

yielding larger revenue and to curb tax evasion, have

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UNIT III HOW ARE POOR PEOPLE IDENTIFIED?

CURRENT CHALLENGES FACING In pre-independent India, Dadabhai Naoroji was the

THE INDIAN ECONOMY first to discuss the concept of a Poverty Line.

Chapter- 4
Poverty

 1962---Planning Commission formed a Study Group

 1979--- Task Force on Projections of Minimum Needs and Effective Consumption Demand
 1989 and 2005--- Expert Groups

Categorising Poverty-

The Poverty Line  Amartya Sen, noted Nobel Laureate, has developed
an index known as Sen Index.
 Based on this, in 2009-10, the poverty line was
defined for rural areas as consumption worth Rs 673 THE NUMBER OF POOR IN INDIA
per person a month and for urban areas it was Rs
860 o When the number of poor is estimated as the
 Though the government uses Monthly Per Capita proportion of people below the poverty line, it is
Expenditure (MPCE) as proxy for income of known as ‘Head Count Ratio’.
households to identify the poor o The official data on poverty is made available to the
 The existing mechanism for determining the Poverty public by the Planning Commission.
Line also does not take into consideration social o It is estimated on the basis of consumption
factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty such as expenditure data collected by the National Sample
illiteracy, ill health, lack of access to resources, Survey Organisation (NSSO).
discrimination or lack of civil and political freedoms.

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WHAT CAUSES POVERTY? (i) Low capital formation

(ii) Lack of infrastructure
These can be caused as a result of (iii) Lack of demand
(iv) Pressure of population
(i) Social, economic and political inequality (v) Lack of social/ welfare nets
(ii) Social exclusion
(iii) Unemployment  Industrialisation has not been able to absorb all
(iv) Indebtedness these people.
(v) Unequal distribution of wealth  The urban poor are either unemployed or
intermittently employed as casual labourers.
Poverty is explained by general, economy-wide  Casual labourers are among the most vulnerable in
problems, such as- society as they have no job security, no assets,

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limited skills, sparse opportunities and no surplus to o To provide guaranteed wage employment to every
sustain them. rural household whose adult volunteer is to do
 The unequal distribution of income and assets has unskilled manual work for a minimum of 100 days in
also led to the persistence of poverty in India. a year
 All this has created two distinct groups in society:
those who posses the means of production and earn
good incomes and those who have only their labour
to trade for survival.

POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES TOWARDS

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

 1st FYP (1951-56)- the urge to bring economic and

social change under present conditions comes from
the fact of poverty and inequalities in income, wealth
and opportunity
 2nd FYP (1956-61)- the benefits of economic
development must accrue more and more to the
relatively less privileged classes of society
 Provide minimum basic amenities to the people.
 Rapid industrial development and transformation of
agriculture through green revolution in select
regions would benefit the underdeveloped regions
and the more backward sections of the community
 The Green Revolution exacerbated the disparities
regionally and between large and small farmers

Third Five Year Plan (1961-66)-

 Most poverty alleviation programmes implemented

are based on the perspective of the Five Year Plans
 Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP),
 Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and
 Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
 Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

Other programmes later on-

o Public Distribution System

o Integrated Child Development Scheme and Midday
Meal
o Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
o Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana
o Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana
o National Social Assistance Programme

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act-

o August 2005

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Chapter- 5
HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION
IN INDIA
 Just as a country can turn physical resources like
land into physical capital like factories, similarly, it
can also turn human resources like students into
human capital like engineers and doctors.
 In other words, we need good human capital to
produce other human capital

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EDUCATION SECTOR IN INDIA

Education for All — Still a Distant Dream

o 1950---- Constitution of India was passed----

Directive Principles of the Constitution----
government should provide free and compulsory
education for all children up to the age of 14 years
within 10 years from the commencement of the
Constitution
o Gender Equity — Better than Before--- differences in
literacy rates between males and females are
narrowing
o Higher Education---- government should increase
allocation for higher education and also improve the
standard of higher education institutions

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Chapter- 6  Rythu Bazars (vegetable and fruit markets in
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and
RURAL DEVELOPMENT  Uzhavar Sandies (farmers markets in Tamil Nadu).

Challenges of Rural India- Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture (TANWA)

o Development of human resources including – o Tamil Nadu to train women I latest agricultural
literacy, more specifically, female literacy, education techniques.
and skill development – health, addressing both o It induces women to actively participate in raising
sanitation and public health agricultural productivity and family income.
o Land reforms
o Development of the productive resources of each Animal Husbandry
locality
o Infrastructure development like electricity,
irrigation, credit, marketing, transport facilities
including construction of village roads and feeder
roads to nearby highways, facilities for agriculture
research and extension, and information
dissemination
o Special measures for alleviation of poverty and
bringing about significant improvement in the living
conditions of the weaker sections of the population
emphasising access to productive employment
opportunities

AGRICULTURAL MARKET SYSTEM

Agricultural marketing is a process that involves the

assembling, storage, processing, transportation,
packaging, grading and distribution of different
agricultural commodities across the country.

Measures to improve the marketing aspect-

1) Regulation of markets to create orderly and

transparent marketing conditions
2) Provision of physical infrastructure facilities
3) Cooperative marketing, in realising fair prices for
farmers’ products
4) The policy instruments like
I. assurance of minimum support prices (MSP)
for agricultural products
II. Maintenance of buffer stocks of wheat and Horticulture
rice by Food Corporation of India and
III. Distribution of food grains and sugar  Contributes nearly 1/3rd of the value of
through PDS. agriculture output and 6% of GDP
 India --- world leader in producing a variety of
Emerging Alternate Marketing Channels- fruits like mangoes, bananas, coconuts, cashew
nuts and a number of spices
 Apni Mandi (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan);  2nd largest producer of fruits and vegetables
 Hadaspar Mandi (Pune);

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 Enhancing its role requires investment in processing units and technology improvement
infrastructure like electricity, cold storage and dissemination.
systems, marketing linkages, small-scale
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIC FARMING

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 70 per cent of the workers--- men and the rest are
women (men and women include child labourers in
Chapter- 7 respective sexes).
 Women workers--- 1/3rd of the rural workforce
EMPLOYMENT: GROWTH,
INFORMALISATION AND
OTHER ISSUES
WORKERS AND EMPLOYMENT

 All those who are engaged in economic activities, in

whatever capacity — high or low, are workers
 While estimating the number of workers, all those
who are engaged in economic activities are included
as employed.
SELF -EMPLOYED AND HIRED WORKERS

EMPLOYMENT IN FIRMS, FACTORIES AND OFFICES

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GROWTH AND CHANGING STRUCTURE OF EMPLOYMENT

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INFORMALISATION OF INDIAN WORKFORCE

UNEMPLOYMENT 2) National Sample Survey Organisation’s Reports of

Employment
There are three sources of data on 3) Unemployment Situation and Directorate General of
Employment and Training Data of Registration with
1) Unemployment: Reports of Census of India,
Employment Exchanges.

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GOVERNMENT AND EMPLOYMENT areas such as primary health, primary education,
GENERATION rural drinking water, nutrition, assistance for people
to buy income and employment generating assets,
o National Rural Employment Guarantee Act--- 2005- development of community assets by generating
-- 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to all wage employment, construction of houses and
rural households who volunteer to do unskilled sanitation, assistance for constructing houses, laying
manual work of rural roads, development of wastelands/ degraded
o Employment generation programmes- aim at lands.
providing not only employment but also services in

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Chapter- 8
INFRASTRUCTURE

RELEVANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE proneness to fall ill) from major waterborne diseases

and reducing the severity of disease when it occurs.
o Infrastructure contributes to economic development o Air pollution and safety hazards connected to
of a country both by increasing the productivity of transportation also affect morbidity, particularly in
the factors of production and improving the quality densely populated areas.
of life of its people.
o Improvements in water supply and sanitation have a
large impact by reducing morbidity (meaning

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THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA

ENERGY Non-conventional Sources of Energy:

Sources of Energy: o Both commercial and non-commercial sources of

energy are known as conventional sources of energy.
 There are commercial and non-commercial sources o There are three other sources of energy which are
of energy. commonly termed as non-conventional sources —
 Commercial sources are coal, petroleum and solar energy, wind energy and tidal power.
electricity as they are bought and sold.
 Non-commercial sources of energy are firewood,
agricultural waste and dried dung.

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Some Challenges in the Power Sector  Thermal power plants which are the mainstay of
India’s power sector are facing shortage of raw
 India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is not material and coal supplies.
sufficient to feed an annual economic growth of 7-8
per cent. HEALTH
 State Electricity Boards (SEBs), which distribute
electricity, incur losses which exceed Rs 500 billion. o Health infrastructure includes hospitals, doctors,
This is due to transmission and distribution losses, nurses and other para-medical professionals, beds,
wrong pricing of electricity and other inefficiencies equipment required in hospitals and a well-
 Private sector power generators are yet to play their developed pharmaceutical industry.
role in a major way; same is the case with foreign o The Union Government evolves broad policies and
investors plans through the Central Council of Health and
Family Welfare.
 There is general public unrest due to high power
o It collects information and renders financial and
tariffs and prolonged power cuts in different parts of
technical assistance to state governments, union
the country
territories and other bodies for implementation of
important health programmes in the country.

Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM)

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It includes six systems—Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homeopathy (AYUSH).

Indicators of Health and Health Infrastructure-

a) infant mortality and maternal mortality rates,

b) life expectancy and nutrition levels,
c) Incidence of communicable and non- communicable
diseases.

Urban-Rural and Poor-Rich Divide-

o Though 70 per cent of India’s population lives in

rural areas, only one-fifth of its hospitals (including
private hospitals) are located in rural areas.
o The PHCs located in rural areas do not offer even X-
ray or blood testing facilities which, for a city
dweller, constitutes basic healthcare.
o Villagers have no access to any specialised medical
care like paediatrics, gynaecology, anaesthesia and
obstetrics.

Women’s Health

 The deterioration in the child sex ratio in the country

from 927 in 2001 to 914, as revealed by the census of
2011
 More than 50 per cent of married women between
the age group of 15 and 49 have anaemia and
nutritional anaemia caused by iron deficiency, which
has contributed to 19 per cent of maternal deaths.
 Abortions are also a major cause of maternal
morbidity and mortality in India.

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Chapter- 9 o Supplies resources
o It assimilates waste
ENVIRONMENT& SUSTAINABLE o It sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity
DEVELOPMENT and
o It also provides aesthetic services like scenery etc.
Functions of the Environment-

STATE OF INDIA’S ENVIRONMENT  The Indo-Gangetic plains — spread from the Arabian
Sea to the Bay of Bengal — are one of the most
 The black soil of the Deccan Plateau is particularly fertile, intensively cultivated and densely populated
suitable for cultivation of cotton, leading to regions in the world.
concentration of textile industries in this region.

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 India alone accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the (ii) Biodiversity loss
world’s total iron-ore reserves. (iii) Air pollution with special reference to vehicular
pollution in urban cities
Some problems- (iv) Management of fresh water and
(v) Solid waste management
(i) Land degradation

Some of the factors responsible for land (vii) Improper crop rotation
degradation are (viii) Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as
fertilisers and pesticides
(i) Loss of vegetation occurring due to deforestation (ix) Improper planning and management of irrigation
(ii) Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction systems
(iii) Shifting cultivation (x) Extraction of ground water in the competing uses of
(iv) Encroachment into forest lands land for forestry, agriculture, pastures, human
(v) Forest fires and over grazing settlements and industries exert an enormous
(vi) Non-adoption of adequate soil conservation pressure on the country’s finite land resources.
measures

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE 6) Mini-hydel Plants

DEVELOPMENT 7) Traditional Knowledge and Practices
8) Bio- composting
1) Use of Non-conventional Sources of Energy 9) Biopest Control
2) LPG, Gobar Gas in Rural Areas 10) Promotion of natural resources, conservation,
3) CNG in Urban Areas preserving regenerativecapacity of ecological system
4) Wind Power: In areas where speed of wind is and avoiding the imposition of environmentalrisks
usually high, wind mills can provide electricity on future generations would lead to sustainable
without any adverse impact on the environment. development
5) Solar Power through Photovoltaic Cells

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UNIT IV o India- 1st FYP- 1951-56
o Pakistan- 1st FYP- Medium Term Development Plan-
DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA: A 1956
COMPARISON WITH NEIGHBOURS o China- 1st FYP- 1953
o China is ahead of India and Pakistan on many
Chapter- 10 human development indicators.
o However these improvements were attributed not to
the reform process but the strategies that China
COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES adopted in the pre-reform period.
OF INDIA AND ITS
NEIGHBOURSDEVELOPMENTAL PATH—A
SNAPSHOT VIEW

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND SECTORS

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INDICATORS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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Class XII
Introductory Microeconomics
Chapter 1

Introduction

3 CENTRAL PROBLEMS OF AN ECONOMY

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Production Possibility Frontier

ORGANISATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The Centrally Planned The Market Economy

Economy

 Government or the  All economic activities are

central authority plans organised through the market
all the important
activities in the  All goods or services come with
economy a price (which is mutually
agreed upon by the buyers and
sellers) at which the exchanges
take place

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Chapter 2

Theory of Consumer Behaviour

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Chapter 3

Production and Costs

PRODUCTION FUNCTION

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Chapter 4
The Theory of the Firm under Perfect Competition

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Chapter 5

Market Equilibrium
 In a perfectly competitive market, equilibrium
occurs where market demand equals market
supply.
 The equilibrium price and quantity are
determined at the intersection of the market
demand and market supply curves when there
are fixed number of firms.
 Imposition of price ceiling below the
equilibrium price leads to an excess demand.
 Imposition of price floor above the equilibrium
price leads to an excess supply

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Chapter 6 commodity has no substitute, and entry into the
industry by another firm is prevented.
 The market price of the commodity depends on
the amount supplied by the monopoly firm. The
Non-competitive Markets market demand curve is the average revenue
curve for the monopoly firm.
 The market structure called monopoly exists
where there is exactly one seller in any market.
 A commodity market has a monopoly structure,
if there is one seller of the commodity, the

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Class XII
Introductory Macroeconomics
Chapter 1
Introduction  This school of thought is known as the classical
tradition.
Macroeconomics tries to address situations facing
the economy as a whole.
Great Depression- 1929
Adam Smith-
 Output and employment levels in the countries
 The founding father of modern economics, had of Europe and North America fall by huge
suggested that if the buyers and sellers in each amounts.
market take their decisions following only their  Demand for goods in the market was low, many
own self-interest, economists will not need to factories were lying idle, workers were thrown
think of the wealth and welfare of the country as out of jobs.
a whole separately.  In USA, from 1929 to 1933, unemployment rate
 But economists gradually discovered that they rose from 3 per cent to 25 per cent
had to look further. (unemployment rate may be defined as the
 Economists found that first, in some cases, the number of people who are not working and are
markets did not or could not exist. looking for jobs divided by the total number of
 Secondly, in some other cases, the markets people who are working or looking for jobs).
existed but failed to produce equilibrium of  Over the same period aggregate output in USA
demand and supply. fell by about 33 per cent.
 Thirdly, and most importantly, in a large  The domestic country may sell goods to the rest
number of situations society (or the State, or of the world. These are called exports.
the people as a whole) had decided to pursue  The economy may also buy goods from the rest
certain important social goals unselfishly (in of the world. These are called imports.
areas like employment, administration, defence,  Besides exports and imports, the rest of the
education and health) for which some of the world affects the domestic economy in other
aggregate effects of the microeconomic ways as well.
decisions made by the individual economic
agents needed to be modified.
John Maynard Keynes-

 Published his celebrated book The General

Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in
1936.
 The dominant thinking in economics before
Keynes was that all the labourers who are ready
to work will find employment and all the
factories will be working at their full capacity.

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Chapter- 2 (Depreciation does not take into account
unexpected or sudden destruction or disuse of
National Income Accounting capital as can happen with accidents, natural
calamities or other such extraneous circumstances)
• Net Investment = Gross investment –
Depreciation Depreciation is an annual allowance for wear and
tear of a capital good.

If we deduct depreciation from GNP the measure of Expenditure Method

aggregate income that we obtain is called Net
National Product (NNP).  An alternative way to calculate the GDP is by
looking at the demand side of the products.
Thus NNP = GNP – Depreciation  This method is referred to as the expenditure
method.

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Income Method does not include spending on intermediate

goods).
 The sum of final expenditures in the economy  This follows from the simple idea that the
must be equal to the incomes received by all the revenues earned by all the firms put together
factors of production taken together (final must be distributed among the factors of
expenditure is the spending on final goods, it production as salaries, wages, profits, interest
earnings and rents.

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GVA at factor costs + Net production taxes = GVA  In India, the most highlighted measure of
at basic prices national income has been the GDP at factor
cost.
GVA at basic prices + Net product taxes = GVA at  The Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the
market prices Government of India has been reporting the
GDP at factor cost and at market prices.
Factor Cost, Basic Prices and Market Prices  In its revision in January 2015 the CSO replaced
GDP at factor cost with the GVA at basic prices,

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and the GDP at market prices, which is now  NNP at factor cost = National Income (NI ) =
called only GDP, is now the most highlighted NNP at market prices – (Indirect taxes –
measure. Subsidies) = NNP at market prices – Net
indirect taxes (Net indirect taxes = Indirect
taxes – Subsidies)
Gross National Product (GNP)  Personal Income (PI) = NI – Undistributed
profits – Net interest payments made by
 GNP = GDP + Factor income earned by the households – Corporate tax + Transfer
domestic factors of production employed in the payments to the households from the
rest of the world – Factor income earned by the government and firms
factors of production of the rest of the world  Personal Disposable Income (PDI ) =PI –
employed in the domestic economy Personal tax payments – Non-tax payments.
 Hence, GNP = GDP + Net factor income from  National Disposable Income = Net
abroad National Product at market prices + Other
 (Net factor income from abroad = Factor current transfers from the rest of the world
income earned by the domestic factors of  Private Income = Factor income from net
production employed in the rest of the world – domestic product accruing to the private sector
Factor income earned by the factors of + National debt interest + Net factor income
production of the rest of the world employed in from abroad + Current transfers from
the domestic economy). government + Other net transfers from the rest
 NNP = GNP – Depreciation of the world.

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WPI vs. CPI

Basis for Wholesale Price Index Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Comparison (WPI)
Meaning Wholesale Price Index (WPI), Consumer Price Index (CPI),
amounts to the average indicates the average change
change in prices of in the prices of commodities,
commodities at wholesale at retail level.
level.

Published by Office of Economic Advisor Central Statistics Office

Measurement First stage of transaction Final stage of transaction

of Inflation
Covers Goods only Goods and Services

Focuses on Prices of goods traded Prices of goods purchased by

between business houses. consumers.

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Chapter- 3
Money and Banking

Commercial Banks • Liabilities for any firm are its debts or what
it owes to others. For a bank, the main
 They accept deposits from the public and lend liability is the deposits which people keep
out part of these funds to those who want to with it.
borrow.
 The interest rate paid by the banks to depositors Liabilities = Deposits
is lower than the rate charged from the
borrowers. • The accounting rule states that both sides of
 This difference between these two types of the account must balance. Hence if assets
interest rates, called the ‘spread’ is the profit
are greater than liabilities, they are recorded
appropriated by the bank.
 Commercial banks mediate between individuals on the right hand side as Net Worth.
or firms with excess funds and lend to those
Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities
who need funds.
POLICY TOOLS TO CONTROL MONEY
MONEY CREATION BY BANKING SYSTEM SUPPLY

 Assets are things a firm owns or what a firm can  Reserve Bank is the only institution which can
claim from others. issue currency
 In case of a bank, apart from buildings,  Central bank- lender of last resort
furniture, etc., its assets are loans given to  The RBI controls the money supply in the
public. economy in various ways.
 Commercial banks like State Bank of India  The tools used by the Central bank to control
(SBI) keep their deposits with RBI and these are money supply can be quantitative or qualitative.
called Reserves.  The quantitative or general measures influence
the total volume of the credit while the
Assets = Reserves + Loans qualitative measures influence the selective or
particular use of credit.

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and purchase of securities and bills in the
open market by Reserve bank of India. The
Quantitative measures aim is to control volume of credit.
• Bank Rate Policy: The bank rate is the • Cash Reserve Ratio- Percentage of
Official interest rate at which RBI deposits which a bank must keep as cash
rediscounts the approved bills held by reserves with itself.
commercial banks.
• Statutory Liquidity Ratio- Apart from
• For controlling the credit, inflation and the CRR, banks are also required to keep
money supply, RBI will increase the Bank some reserves in liquid form in the short
Rate. Current Bank Rate is 6%. term. This ratio is called Statutory Liquidity
Ratio or SLR.
• Open Market Operations: OMO The
Open market Operations refer to direct sales

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Qualitative measures  Rationing of credit: The RBI controls the

Credit granted / allocated by commercial banks.
 Margin requirements: This refers to  Moral Suasion: psychological means and
difference between the securities offered and informal means of selective credit control.
amount borrowed by the banks.  Direct Action: This step is taken by the RBI
 Consumer Credit Regulation: This refers to against banks that don’t fulfil conditions and
issuing rules regarding down payments and requirements. RBI may refuse to rediscount
maximum maturities of instalment credit for their papers or may give excess credits or
purchase of goods. charge a penal rate of interest over and above
 Guidelines: RBI issues oral, written the Bank rate, for credit demanded beyond a
statements, appeals, guidelines, and warnings limit.
etc. to the banks.

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Narrow and Broad Money Where, CU is currency (notes plus coins) held by
the public and DD is net demand deposits held by
 RBI publishes figures for four alternative commercial banks.
measures of money supply, viz. M1, M2, M3 and
M4. They are defined as follows  M1 and M2 are known as narrow money. M3
 M1 = CU + DD and M4 are known as broad money.
 M2 = M1 + Savings deposits with Post Office  These measures are in decreasing order of
savings banks liquidity.
 M3 = M1 + Net time deposits of commercial  M1 is most liquid and easiest for transactions
banks whereas M4 is least liquid of all.
 M4 = M3 + Total deposits with Post Office  M3 is the most commonly used measure of
savings organisations (excluding National money supply. It is also known as aggregate
Savings Certificates) monetary resources

Demonetisation  Demonetisation was a new initiative taken by

the Government of India in November 2016 to

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tackle the problem of corruption, black money, Positive impact-
terrorism and circulation of fake currency in the
economy.  Improved tax compliance
 Old currency notes of Rs 500, and Rs 1000 were  Banks have more resources at their disposal
no longer legal tender. which can be used to provide more loans at
 New currency notes in the denomination of Rs lower interest rates.
500 and Rs 2000 were launched.  Help tax administration in another way, by
shifting transactions out of the cash economy
into the formal payment system.
 Households and firms have begun to shift from
cash to electronic payment technologies.

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Chapter- 4
Determination of Income and Employment

Investment

• Investment is defined as addition to the Paradox of Thrift

stock of physical capital (such as machines,
buildings, roads etc., i.e. anything that adds  If all the people of the economy increase the
to the future productive capacity of the proportion of income they save (i.e. if the mps
of the economy increases) the total value of
economy) and changes in the inventory (or savings in the economy will not increase – it
the stock of finished goods) of a producer. will either decline or remain unchanged.
 This result is known as the Paradox of Thrift –
which states that as people become more thrifty
they end up saving less or same as before.
 This result, though sounds apparently
impossible, is actually a simple application of
the model we have learnt.

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Chapter- 5
Government Budget and the Economy

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BALANCED, SURPLUS AND DEFICIT BUDGET

Measures of Government Deficit  Gross fiscal deficit = Total expenditure –

(Revenue receipts + Non-debt creating capital
Revenue Deficit: receipts)

 The revenue deficit refers to the excess of

government’s revenue expenditure over OR
revenue receipts
 Revenue deficit = Revenue expenditure –  Gross fiscal deficit = Net borrowing at home +
Revenue receipts Borrowing from RBI + Borrowing from abroad
 Fiscal Deficit = Revenue Deficit + Capital
Expenditure - non-debt creating capital receipts
Fiscal Deficit:  Gross primary deficit = Gross fiscal deficit –
Net interest liabilities
 Fiscal deficit is the difference between the
government’s total expenditure and its total
receipts excluding borrowing

Debt  Governments have mostly relied on borrowing,

giving rise to what is called government debt.
 Budgetary deficits must be financed by taxation,  The concepts of deficits and debt are closely
borrowing or printing money. related.
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 Deficits can be thought of as a flow which adds 6) Measures to be taken to ensure greater
to the stock of debt. transparency in fiscal operations.
 If the government continues to borrow year 7) The central government to lay before both
after year, it leads to the accumulation of debt Houses of Parliament three statements –
and the government has to pay more and more Medium-term Fiscal Policy Statement, The
Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement, The
Macroeconomic Framework Statement along
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget with the Annual Financial Statement.
8) Quarterly review of the trends in receipts and
Management Act, 2003 (FRBMA) expenditure in relation to the budget be placed
before both Houses of Parliament.
 The enactment of the FRBMA, in August 2003,
marked a turning point in fiscal reforms,
binding the government through an GST: One Nation, One Tax, One Market
institutional framework to pursue a prudent
fiscal policy.  Single comprehensive indirect tax, operational
 The central government must ensure from 1 July 2017, on supply of goods and
intergenerational equity and long-term macro- services, right from the manufacturer/ service
economic stability by achieving sufficient provider to the consumer.
revenue surplus, removing fiscal obstacles to  It is a destination based consumption tax with
monetary policy and effective debt management facility of Input Tax Credit in the supply chain.
by limiting deficits and borrowing.  It has amalgamated a large number of Central
 The rules under the Act were notified with effect and State taxes and cesses.
from July, 2004.  As there have been a number of intermediate
goods/services, which were
manufactured/provided in the economy, the pre
Main Features GST tax regime imposed taxes not on the value
added at each stage but on the total value of the
1) The Act mandates the central government to
commodity/service with minimal facility of
take appropriate measures to reduce fiscal
utilisation of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
deficit to not more than 3 percent of GDP and to
eliminate the revenue deficit by March 31,  The total value included taxes paid on
20098 and thereafter build up adequate intermediate goods/services.
revenue surplus.  This amounted to cascading of tax. Under GST,
2) It requires the reduction in fiscal deficit by 0.3 the tax is discharged at every stage of supply
per cent of GDP each year and the revenue and the credit of tax paid at the previous stage is
deficit by 0.5 per cent. If this is not achieved available for set off at the next stage of supply of
through tax revenues, the necessary adjustment goods and/or services.
has to come from a reduction in expenditure.  In view of our large and fast growing economy,
3) The actual deficits may exceed the targets it addresses to establish parity in taxation
specified only on grounds of national security or across the country, and extend principles of
natural calamity or such other exceptional ‘value- added taxation’ to all goods and services.
grounds as the central government may specify.  It has replaced various types of taxes/cesses,
4) The central government shall not borrow from levied by the Central and State/UT
the Reserve Bank of India except by way of Governments.
advances to meet temporary excess of cash  Some of the major taxes that were levied by
disbursements over cash receipts. Centre were Central Excise Duty, Service Tax,
5) The Reserve Bank of India must not subscribe Central Sales Tax, Cesses like KKC and SBC.
to the primary issues of central government  The major State taxes were VAT/Sales Tax,
securities from the year 2006-07. Entry Tax, Luxury Tax, Octroi, Entertainment
Tax, Taxes on Advertisements, Taxes on Lottery
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/Betting/ Gambling, State Cesses on goods etc. Article 246A in the Constitution cross
These have been subsumed in GST. empowering Parliament and Legislatures of
 Five petroleum products have been kept out of States to make laws with reference to Goods
GST for the time being but with passage of time, and Service Tax imposed by the Union and the
they will get subsumed in GST. States.
 State Governments will continue to levy VAT on  Thereafter CGST Act, UTGST Act and SGST
alcoholic liquor for human consumption. Acts were enacted for GST.
 Tobacco and tobacco products will attract both  It will also result into higher economic growth
GST and Central Excise Duty. as GDP is expected to rise by about 2%.
 Under GST, there are 6 (six) standard rates
applied i.e. 0%, 3%,5%, 12%,18% and 28% on
supply of all goods and/or services across the
country.
 GST is the biggest tax reform in the country Advantages-
since independence and was rolled out on the
mid-night of 30 June/1 July, 2017 during a  Expanded the tax base
special midnight session of the Parliament.  Introduced higher transparency in the taxation
 The 101th Constitution Amendment Act system,
received assent of the President of India on 8  Reduced human interface between Taxpayer
September, 2016. The amendment introduced and Government

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Chapter- 6
Open Economy Macroeconomics

THE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS Current Account is the record of trade in goods and
services and transfer payments.
 The balance of payments (BoP) records the
transactions in goods, services and assets Capital Account
between residents of a country with the rest of
the world for a specified time period typically a  Capital Account records all international
year. transactions of assets. An asset is any one of the
 There are two main accounts in the BoP — the forms in which wealth can be held, for example:
current account and the capital account. money, stocks, bonds, Government debt, etc.
Current Account  Purchase of assets is a debit item on the capital
account.

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Foreign Exchange Rate • Foreign Exchange Rate (also called Forex

Rate) is the price of one currency in terms of
another.

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Demand for Foreign Exchange Supply of Foreign Exchange

 People demand foreign exchange because: they  Foreign currency flows into the home country
want to purchase goods and services from other due to the following reasons: exports by a
countries; they want to send gifts abroad; and, country lead to the purchase of its domestic
they want to purchase financial assets of a goods and services by the foreigners; foreigners
certain country. send gifts or make transfers; and, the assets of a
 A rise in price of foreign exchange will increase home country are bought by the foreigners.
the cost (in terms of rupees) of purchasing a  A rise in price of foreign exchange will reduce
foreign good. the foreigner’s cost (in terms of USD) while
 This reduces demand for imports and hence purchasing products from India, other things
demand for foreign exchange also decreases, remaining constant.
other things remaining constant.

Depreciation

 Increase in exchange rate implies that the price of foreign currency (dollar) in terms of domestic
currency (rupees) has increased.
 This is called Depreciation of domestic currency (rupees) in terms of foreign currency (dollars).

Appreciation

• When the price of domestic currency (rupees) in terms of foreign currency (dollars) increases, it is called
Appreciation of the domestic currency (rupees) in terms of foreign currency (dollars).

Income and the Exchange Rate  When imports increase, the demand curve for
foreign exchange shifts to the right.
 When income increases, consumer spending  There is a depreciation of the domestic
increases. currency.
 Spending on imported goods is also likely to  On balance, the domestic currency may or may
increase. not depreciate.

Devaluation-

• In a fixed exchange rate system, when some government action increases the exchange rate (thereby,
making domestic currency cheaper) is called Devaluation.

Revaluation-

• When the Government decreases the exchange rate (thereby, making domestic currency costlier) in a
fixed exchange rate system.

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International Monetary Fund (IMF)

 It was established at the conference of 44 nations held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA, in July 1944.

 IMF was officially created in 1945 with 29 member countries.

 It was established to prevent unstable exchange rates and competitive devaluation among economies.

 Headquarters of IMF - Washington DC

AIMS OF IMF:

 IMF promotes international monetary cooperation

 It helps in expansion and balanced growth of international trade

 It promotes exchange stability

 It helps to remove deficiency in Balance of Payments

FUNCTIONS OF IMF

 IMF set standards for global economy and monitors financial communications between countries.

 It helps its member countries by lending money to make their economies and financial structure stable.

 It assists the member countries to develop sustainable financial policies.

 It provides economic advice to countries to maximise their financial effectiveness.

 It helps developing countries to stabilise and sustain themselves in global economy

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The Bretton Woods System  A two-tier system of convertibility was

established at the centre of which was the
 The Bretton Woods Conference held in 1944 set dollar.
up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and  1967- IMF- gold was displaced by creating the
the World Bank and re-established a system of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), also known as
fixed exchange rates. ‘paper gold’

World Bank

 World Bank was formed on July 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference.
 Headquarter of World Bank is located at Washington D.C. (U.S.A.)
 The main purpose of the World Bank is ''Reduction of Poverty''.
 World Bank is comprises of two institutions - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
 World Bank is member of the United Nations Development Group as well as World Bank Group.
 World Bank Group includes - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),
International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency, International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
 The president of the World Bank comes from the largest shareholder. Members are represented by a
Board of Governors.

Breakdown of the Bretton Woods system  flight from dollars to gold in 1968 leading to the
creation of a two-tiered gold market (with the
The breakdown of the Bretton Woods system was official rate at $35 per ounce and the private
preceded by many events, such as the rate market determined), and
 Finally in August 1971, the British demand that
 devaluation of the pound in 1967, US guarantee the gold value of its dollar
holdings.

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Class- XII (Contemporary World Politics)
International Organisations
Chapter- 1
The Cold War Era
New International Economic Order (NIEO) integrity and security of non-aligned
countries" in their "struggle against
 The New International Economic Order imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism,
(NIEO) was a set of proposals put forward racism, and all forms of foreign aggression,
during the 1970's by some developing occupation, domination, interference or
countries through the United Nations hegemony as well as against great power and
Conference on Trade and Development to bloc politics," by Fidel Castro in his Havana
promote their interests by improving their Declaration of 1979.
terms of trade, increasing development  The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement
assistance, developed-country tariff represent nearly two-thirds of the United
reductions, and other means. Nations' members and contain 55% of the
 It was meant to be a revision of the world population.
international economic system in favour of  Membership is particularly concentrated in
Third World countries, replacing the Bretton countries considered to be developing or part
Woods system, which had benefited the of the Third World, though the Non-Aligned
leading states that had created it – especially Movement also has a number of developed
the United States. nations.
 This order was demanded by the Non-Aligned
Movement. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO)
Non-Aligned Movement
 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also
 The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group called the North Atlantic Alliance is an
of states that are not formally aligned with or intergovernmental military alliance between
against any major power bloc. 29 North American and European countries.
 As of 2012, the movement has 120 members  The organization implements the North
 It was established in 1961 in Belgrade, Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April
Yugoslavia. An initiative of Yugoslav president 1949.
Joseph Broz Tito and Indian Prime Minister  NATO constitutes a system of collective
Jawaharlal Nehru led to the first Conference defence whereby its independent member
of Heads of State or Government of Non- states agree to mutual defence in response to
Aligned Countries. The term non-aligned an attack by any external party.
movement appears first in the fifth conference  NATO’s Headquarters are located in Haren,
in 1976, where participating countries are Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of
denoted as "members of the movement". Allied Command Operations is near Mons,
 The purpose of the organization has been Belgium.
enumerated as to ensure "the national  Headquarters- Brussels, Belgium
independence, sovereignty, territorial

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Southeast Asia Treaty Organization  UNCTAD is the part of the United Nations
(SEATO) Secretariat dealing with trade, investment,
and development issues.
 The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization  The organization's goals are to: "maximize the
(SEATO) was an international organization trade, investment and development
for collective defence in Southeast Asia opportunities of developing countries and
created by the Southeast Asia Collective assist them in their efforts to integrate into
Defence Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in the world economy on an equitable basis.
September 1954 in Manila, Philippines.
UNCTAD was established by the United
 The formal institution of SEATO was Nations General Assembly in 1964 and it
established on 19 February 1955 at a meeting reports to the UN General Assembly and
of treaty partners in Bangkok, Thailand. United Nations Economic and Social Council.
 The organization's headquarters were also in  Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Bangkok.  Founded: 1964
Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) LIMITED TEST BAN TREATY (LTBT)
 Central Treaty Organization (CENTO),  Banned nuclear weapon tests in the
formerly Middle East Treaty Organization, or atmosphere, in outer space and under water
Baghdad Pact Organization, mutual security
 Signed by the US, UK and USSR in Moscow
organization dating from 1955 to 1979 and
on 5 August 1963.
composed of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the
 Entered into force on 10 October 1963
United Kingdom.
 Until March 1959 the organization was known NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
as the Middle East Treaty Organization, TREATY (NPT)
included Iraq, and had its headquarters in
Baghdad.  Allows only the nuclear weapon states to have
 Formed at the urging of Britain and the nuclear weapons and stops others from
United States, the Central Treaty Organization acquiring them. For the purposes of the NPT,
was intended to counter the threat of Soviet a nuclear weapon state is one which has
expansion into vital Middle East oil-producing manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon
regions. or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1
 It was never very effective. Iraq withdrew January 1967.
from the alliance in 1959 after its anti-Soviet  So there are five nuclear weapon states: US,
monarchy was overthrown. USSR (later Russia), Britain, France and
 That same year the United States became an China.
associate member, the name of the  Signed in Washington, London, and Moscow
organization was changed to CENTO, and its on 1 July 1968
headquarters was moved to Ankara.  Entered into force on 5 March 1970
 Following the fall of the shah in 1979, Iran  Extended indefinitely in 1995
withdrew, and CENTO was dissolved.
STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS I
United Nations Conference on Trade and (SALT-I)
Development (UNCTAD)
 The first round of the Strategic Arms
 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Limitation Talks began in November 1969.
Development (UNCTAD) was established in The Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the US
1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. President Richard Nixon signed the following
in Moscow on 26 May 1972 –
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a) Treaty on the limitation of Anti-Ballistic  Treaty signed by the USSR President Mikhail
Missile Systems (ABM Treaty); and Gorbachev and the US President George Bush
b) Interim Agreement on the limitation of (Senior) on the reduction and limitation of
strategic offensive arms. strategic offensive arms in Moscow on 31 July
 Entered into force on 3 October 1972 1991.

STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS II STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY

(SALT-II) II (START-II)

 The second round started in November 1972.  Treaty signed by the Russian President Boris
 The US President Jimmy Carter and the Yeltsin and the US President George Bush
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the (Senior) on the reduction and limitation of
Treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive strategic offensive arms in Moscow on 3
arms in Vienna on 18 June 1979. January 1993.

STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY I

(START-I)

The Cold war Timeline

 1947 American President Harry Truman’s Doctrine about the containment of communism
 1947 - 52 Marshall Plan: US aid for the reconstruction of the Western Europe
 1948 - 49 Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union and the airlift of supplies to the citizens of West
Berlin by the US and its allies
 1950 - 53 Korean War
 1954 Defeat of the French by the Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu Signing of the Geneva Accords;
Division of Vietnam along the 17th Parallel; Formation of SEATO
 1954 – 75- American intervention in Vietnam
 1955 Signing of the Baghdad Pact, later CENTO
 1956 Soviet intervention in Hungary
 1961 US-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba; Construction of the Berlin Wall
 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
 1965 American intervention in the Dominican Republic
 1968 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia
 1972 US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China
 1978 - 89 Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia
 1979 - 89 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
 1985 Gorbachev becomes the President of the USSR; begins the reform process
 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall; mass protests against governments in eastern Europe
 1990 Unification of Germany
 1991 Disintegration of the Soviet Union; End of the Cold War era

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Chapter 2
The End of Bipolarity
Warsaw Pact Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS)
 The Warsaw Pact, formally known as the
Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual  The Commonwealth of Independent States
Assistance, was a collective defence treaty (CIS) formed when the former Soviet Union
signed in Warsaw, Poland among the Soviet (now called Russia) totally dissolved in 1991.
Union and seven Soviet satellite states of  At its conception it consisted of ten former
Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, Soviet Republics: Armenia, Belarus,
during the Cold War. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia,
 The Warsaw Pact was the military Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
complement to the Council for Mutual Uzbekistan.
Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the regional  Headquarters: Minsk, Belarus
economic organization for the socialist states
of Central and Eastern Europe. United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
 The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to
 The United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
the integration of West Germany into NATO
is one of the six principal organs of the United
in 1955 per the London and Paris Conferences
Nations (UN), charged with the maintenance
of 1954, but it is also considered to have been
of international peace and security as well as
motivated by Soviet desires to maintain
accepting new members to the United Nations
control over military forces in Central and
and approving any changes to its United
Eastern Europe.
Nations Charter.
 Formation- 14 May 1955 in Warsaw, Poland
 Its powers include the establishment of
 Dissolved- 1 July 1991 peacekeeping operations, the establishment of
 Headquarters- Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet international sanctions, and the authorization
Union of military action through Security Council
resolutions; it is the only UN body with the
authority to issue binding resolutions to
member states.

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TIMELINE OF DISINTEGRATION OF THE SOVIET UNION

 1985 March: Mikhail Gorbachev elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union; appoints Boris Yeltsin as the head of the Communist Party in Moscow; initiates a
series of reforms in the Soviet Union
 1988: Independence movement begins in Lithuania; later spreads to Estonia and Latvia
 1989 October: Soviet Union declares that the Warsaw Pact members are free to decide their own
futures; Berlin Wall falls in November
 1990 February: Gorbachev strips the Soviet Communist Party of its 72-year-long monopoly on
power by calling on the Soviet parliament (Duma) to permit multiparty politics
 1990 March: Lithuania becomes the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare its independence
 1990 June: Russian parliament declares its independence from the Soviet Union
 1991 June: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, becomes the President of Russia
 1991 August: The Communist Party hardliners stage an abortive coup against Gorbachev
 1991 September: Three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become UN members
(later join NATO in March 2004)
 1991 December: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decide to annul the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the
USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the CIS (Georgia
joins later in 1993); Russia takes over the USSR seat in the United Nations
 1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; the end of the Soviet
Union

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Chapter 3  Countries contribute funds to a pool through a

quota system from which countries
experiencing balance of payments problems
US Hegemony in World
can borrow money
Politics  Formation- 27 December 1945

World Trade Organization (WTO)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)  The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an

intergovernmental organization that regulates
 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international trade.
international organization headquartered in  The WTO officially commenced on 1 January
Washington, D.C., consisting of "189 countries 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed
working to foster global monetary by 124 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the
cooperation, secure financial stability, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
facilitate international trade, promote high (GATT), which commenced in 1948. It is the
employment and sustainable economic largest international economic organization in
growth, and reduce poverty around the the world.
world."  The WTO deals with regulation of trade in
 Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods goods, services and intellectual property
Conference primarily by the ideas of Harry between participating countries by providing a
Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it framework for negotiating trade agreements
came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 and a dispute resolution process aimed at
member countries and the goal of enforcing participants' adherence to WTO
reconstructing the international payment agreements, which are signed by
system. representatives of member governments and
 It now plays a central role in the management ratified by their parliaments.
of balance of payments difficulties and
international financial crises.

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Chapter- 4 cultural integration among its members and
other Asian states.
 It also regularly engages other states in the
Alternative Centres of Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Being a global
Power powerhouse, the central union for cooperation
in Asia-Pacific and one of the world's most
prominent and influential organisations,
European Union (EU) ASEAN maintains a global network of
alliances and dialogue partners.
 The European Union (EU) is a political and
 It is involved in numerous international
economic union of 28 member states that are
affairs, and hosts diplomatic missions
located primarily in Europe.
throughout the world.
 The EU has developed an internal single
 It is a major partner of the Shanghai
market through a standardised system of laws
Cooperation Organisation (SCO), developing
that apply in all member states in those
cooperation model with the organisation for
matters, and only those matters, where
the peace, stability, development and
members have agreed to act as one.
sustainability of the Asian continent.
 EU policies aim to ensure the free movement
 It also serves as an international role model in
of people, goods, services and capital within
seeking harmony and strength among
the internal market, enact legislation in justice
diversity and differences, as well as a leading
and home affairs and maintain common
figure in global economy, trade, diplomacy
policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and
and politics.
regional development.
 ASEAN was preceded by an organization
 For travel within the Schengen Area, passport
formed in 31 July 1961 called the Association
controls have been abolished.
of Southeast Asia (ASA), a group consisting of
 A monetary union was established in 1999 and the Philippines, Federation of Malaya, and
came into full force in 2002 and is composed Thailand.
of 19 EU member states which use the euro
 Its Vision 2020 has defined an outward-
currency.
looking role for ASEAN in the international
 The EU and European citizenship were community. This builds on the existing
established when the Maastricht Treaty came ASEAN policy to encourage negotiation over
into force in 1993. conflicts in the region. Thus, ASEAN has
 The EU traces its origins to the European Coal mediated the end of the Cambodian conflict,
and Steel Community (ECSC) and the the East Timor crisis, and meets annually to
European Economic Community (EEC), discuss East Asian cooperation.
established, respectively, by the 1951 Treaty of
Paris and 1957 Treaty of Rome. Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development is an intergovernmental
 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is economic organisation with 36 member
a regional intergovernmental organization countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate
comprising ten Southeast Asian countries, economic progress and world trade.
which promotes intergovernmental  It is a forum of countries describing
cooperation and facilitates economic, political, themselves as committed to democracy and
security, military, educational, and socio- the market economy, providing a platform to
compare policy experiences, seeking answers

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to common problems, identify good practices  As of 2017, the OECD member states
and coordinate domestic and international collectively comprised 62.2% of global
policies of its members. nominal GDP (US$49.6 trillion) and 42.8% of
 Most OECD members are high-income global GDP (Int$54.2 trillion) at purchasing
economies with a very high Human power parity.[4] OECD is an official United
Development Index (HDI) and are regarded Nations observer.
as developed countries.  Headquarters- Paris, France

TIMELINE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

 1951 April: Six west European countries, France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg sign the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
 1957 March 25: These six countries sign the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic
Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
 1973 January: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Community (EC).
 1979 June: First direct elections to the European Parliament
 1981 January: Greece joins the EC.
 1985 June: The Schengen Agreement abolishes border controls among the EC members.
 1986 January: Spain and Portugal join the EC.
 1990 October: Unification of Germany.
 1992 February 7: The Treaty of Maastricht was signed establishing the European Union (EU).
 1993 January: The single market was created.
 1995 January: Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.
 2002 January: Euro, the new currency, was introduced in the 12 EU members.
 2004 May: Ten new members, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join the EU.
 2007 January: Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. Slovenia adopts the Euro.
 2009 December: The Lisbon Treaty came into force.
 2012 : The EU is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
 2013: Croatia becomes the 28th member of the EU.
 2016: Referendum in Britain, 51.9 per cent voters decide that Britain exit (Brexit) from the EU.

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Chapter 5
Contemporary South Asia

South Asian Association for Regional  It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area
Cooperation (SAARC) in 2006.
 SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic
 Founded: 8 December 1985, Dhaka, relations at the United Nations as an observer
Bangladesh and has developed links with multilateral
 Headquarters: Kathmandu, Nepal entities, including the European Union.
 The South Asian Association for Regional  SAARC members signed the South Asian Free
Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional Trade (SAFTA) agreement which promised
intergovernmental organization and the formation of a free trade zone for the
geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. whole of South Asia.
 Its member states include Afghanistan,  The Agreement was signed in 2004 and came
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the into effect on 1 January 2006. SAFTA aims at
Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. lowering trade tariffs. But some of our
 SAARC comprises 3% of the world's area, 21% neighbours fear that SAFTA is a way for India
of the world's population and 3.8% (US$2.9 to ‘invade’ their markets and to influence their
trillion) of the global economy, as of 2015. societies and politics through commercial
 SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December ventures and a commercial presence in their
1985. countries.
 Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The organization promotes development of
economic and regional integration.

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TIMELINE OF SOUTH ASIA SINCE 1947

 1947: India and Pakistan emerge as independent nations after the end of British rule
 1948: Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gains independence; Indo- Pak conflict over Kashmir
 1954-55: Pakistan joins the Cold War military blocs, SEATO and CENTO
 1960: India and Pakistan sign the Indus Waters Treaty
 1962: Border conflict between India and China
 1965: Indo-Pak War; UN India-Pakistan Observation Mission
 1966: India and Pakistan sign the Tashkent Agreement; Six-point proposal of Sheikh Mujib-ur
Rahman for greater autonomy to East Pakistan
 1971 March: Proclamation of Independence by leaders of Bangladesh
 August : Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship signed for 20 years
 December : Indo-Pak War, Liberation of Bangladesh
 1972 July: India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Agreement
 1974 May: India conducts nuclear test
 1976: Pakistan and Bangladesh establish diplomatic ties
 1985 December: South Asian leaders sign the SAARC Charter at the first summit in Dhaka
 1987: Indo-Sri Lanka Accord; Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operation in Sri Lanka (1987-90)
 1988: India sends troops to the Maldives to foil a coup attempt by mercenaries India and Pakistan
sign the agreement not to attack nuclear installations and facilities of each other
 1988-91: Democracy restoration in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal
 1996 December: India and Bangladesh sign the Farakka Treaty for sharing of the Ganga Waters
 1998 May: India and Pakistan conduct nuclear tests December: India and Sri Lanka sign the Free
Trade Agreement (FTA)
 1999 February: Indian PM Vajpayee undertakes bus journey to Lahore to sign a Peace Declaration
June-July: Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan
 2001 July: Vajpayee - Musharraf Agra Summit unsuccessful
 2004 January: SAFTA signed at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad
 2007: Afghanistan joins SAARC
 2014 November: The 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal

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Chapter 6
International Organisations

FOUNDING OF THE UNITED NATIONS

 1941August: Signing of the Atlantic Charter by the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British
PM Winston S. Churchill
 1942 January: 26 Allied nations fighting against the Axis Powers meet in Washington, D.C., to
support the Atlantic Charter and sign the ‘Declaration by United Nations’
 1943 December: Tehran Conference Declaration of the Three Powers (US, Britain and Soviet Union)
 1945 February: Yalta Conference of the ‘Big Three’ (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) decides to
organise a United Nations conference on the proposed world organisation
 April-May: The 2-month long United Nations Conference on International Organisation at San
Francisco
 1945 June 26: Signing of the UN Charter by 50 nations (Poland signed on October 15; so the UN has
51 original founding members)
 1945 October 24: the UN was founded (hence October 24 is celebrated as UN Day)
 1945 October 30: India joins the UN

World Bank

 The World Bank was created during the International Atomic Energy Agency
Second World War in 1944. (IAEA)
 Its activities are focused on the developing
countries.  The International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) was established in 1957.
 It works for human development (education,
health), agriculture and rural development  It came into being to implement US President
(irrigation, rural services), environmental Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace”
protection (pollution reduction, establishing proposal.
and enforcing regulations), infrastructure  It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
(roads, urban regeneration, and electricity) energy and to prevent its use for military
and governance (anti-corruption, purposes.
development of legal institutions).  IAEA teams regularly inspect nuclear facilities
 It provides loans and grants to the member- all over the world to ensure that civilian
countries. In this way, it exercises enormous reactors are not being used for military
influence on the economic policies of purposes.
developing countries.
Amnesty International
 It is often criticised for setting the economic
agenda of the poorer nations, attaching  Amnesty International is an NGO that
stringent conditions to its loans and forcing campaigns for the protection of human rights
free market reforms. all over the world.
 It promotes respect for all the human rights in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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 It believes that human rights are Human Rights Watch
interdependent and indivisible.
 It prepares and publishes reports on human  Human Rights Watch is another international
rights. NGO involved in research and advocacy on
human rights.
 Governments are not always happy with these
reports since a major focus of Amnesty is the  It is the largest international human rights
misconduct of government authorities. organisation in the US.
 Nevertheless, these reports play an important  It draws the global media’s attention to
human rights abuses.
role in research and advocacy on human
rights.  It helped in building international coalitions
like the campaigns to ban landmines, to stop
the use of child soldiers and to establish the
International Criminal Court.

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Chapter 7
Security in the Contemporary World
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)  The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits
the large-scale use, development, production,
 The Convention on the Prohibition of the stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons.
Development, Production and Stockpiling of
Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
Weapons and on their Destruction was the
first multilateral disarmament treaty banning  The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972—2002)
the production of an entire category of was an arms control treaty between the
weapons. United States and the Soviet Union on the
 The Convention was the result of prolonged limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM)
efforts by the international community to systems used in defending areas against
establish a new instrument that would ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons.
supplement the 1925 Geneva Protocol.  Under the terms of the treaty, each party was
 The Geneva Protocol prohibits use but not limited to two ABM complexes, each of which
possession or development of chemical and was to be limited to 100 anti-ballistic missiles.
biological weapons.  Signed- 26 May 1972
 Signed 10 April 1972  Location- Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
 Location London, Moscow, and Washington,  In June 2002 the United States withdrew
D.C. from the treaty, leading to its termination.
 Effective 26 March 1975
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
 START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was
 Drafted: 3 September 1992 a bilateral treaty between the United States of
 Effective: 29 April 1997 America and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) on the reduction and
 Location: Paris and New York
limitation of strategic offensive arms.
 The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is
 The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and
an arms control treaty that outlaws the
entered into force on 5 December 1994
production, stockpiling, and use of chemical
weapons and their precursors.  The START I treaty expired 5 December 2009.
On 8 April 2010, the replacement New START
 The full name of the treaty is the Convention
treaty was signed in Prague by United States
on the Prohibition of the Development,
President Barack Obama and Russian
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
President Dmitry Medvedev.
Weapons and on their Destruction and it is
administered by the Organisation for the  Following ratification by the U.S. Senate and
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an the Federal Assembly of Russia, it went into
intergovernmental organization based in The force on 26 January 2011.
Hague, The Netherlands.  This Treaty was the first to provide
tremendous reductions of American and
Soviet/Russian strategic nuclear weapons.

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Chapter 8
Environment and Natural Resources
Rio Summit  The Montreal Protocol on Substances that
Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to
 Earth Summit 1992 was the United Nations reduce the production and consumption of
Conference on Environment and ozone depleting substances in order to reduce
Development (UNCED), commonly known as their abundance in the atmosphere, and
the Rio Summit, Rio Conference. thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer.
 It was a major United Nations conference held  The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on
in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992. 16 September 1987 and entered into force on 1
 It was attended by 172 Governments. The January 1989.
outcome of this summit was the following  The Montreal Protocol includes a unique
documents: adjustment provision that enables the Parties
a) Rio Declaration on Environment and to the Protocol to respond quickly to new
Development scientific information and agree to accelerate
b) Agenda 21 the reductions required on chemicals already
c) Convention on Biological Diversity covered by the Protocol.
d) Forest Principles
e) Framework Convention on Climate Antarctic Environmental Protocol
Change (UNFCCC)
 The Protocol on Environmental Protection to
Out of the above, the documents on Convention the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Madrid on
on Biological Diversity and UNFCC were set October 4, 1991 and entered into force in
1998. It designates Antarctica as a “natural
Agenda 21 reserve, devoted to peace and science” (Art.
2).
 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the
United Nations with regard to sustainable  Article 3 of the Environment Protocol sets
development. forth basic principles applicable to human
 It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN activities in Antarctica and Article 7 prohibits
all activities relating to Antarctic mineral
Conference on Environment and
Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, resources, except for scientific research. Until
in 1992. 2048 the Protocol can only be modified by
unanimous agreement of all Consultative
 It is an action agenda for the UN, other
Parties to the Antarctic Treaty.
multilateral organizations, and individual
 In addition, the prohibition on mineral
governments around the world that can be
resource activities cannot be removed unless a
executed at local, national, and global levels.
binding legal regime on Antarctic mineral
 The “21” in Agenda 21 refers to the 21st
resource activities is in force
Century.
 Although it is also the area code for Greater
Rio de Janeiro, plus Teresopolis and
Mangaratiba in the countryside.
 It has been affirmed and had a few
Kyoto Protocol
modifications at subsequent UN conferences.
 The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty
Montreal Protocol
which extends the 1992 United Nations

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Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period
(UNFCCC) that commits state parties to (2008–2012). These emissions limitation
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on commitments are listed in Annex B of the
the scientific consensus that (part one) global Protocol.
warming is occurring and (part two) it is  The Kyoto Protocol’s first round commitments
extremely likely that human-made CO2 are the first detailed step taken within the UN
emissions have predominantly caused it. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto,  The Protocol establishes a structure of rolling
Japan on 11 December 1997 and entered into emission reduction commitment periods.
force on 16 February 2005. There are  It set a timetable starting in 2006 for
currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew negotiations to establish emission reduction
effective December 2012) to the Protocol. commitments for a second commitment
 The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective period.
of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by  The first period emission reduction
reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the commitments expired on December 31, 2012.
atmosphere to “a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF)
the climate system” (Article 2).
 The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is
 The Protocol is based on the principle of
an international non-governmental
common but differentiated responsibilities: it
organization founded in 1961, working in the
puts the obligation to reduce current
field of the wilderness preservation, and the
emissions on developed countries on the basis
reduction of human impact on the
that they are historically responsible for the
environment.
current levels of greenhouse gases in the
 It was formerly named the World Wildlife
atmosphere.
Fund, which remains its official name in
 Negotiations were held in the framework of
Canada and the United States.
the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change
 The Living Planet Report is published every
Conferences on measures to be taken after the
two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a
second commitment period ends in 2020.
Living Planet Index and ecological footprint
 This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris
calculation.
Agreement, which is a separate instrument
 WWF’s giant panda logo originated from a
under the UNFCCC rather than an
panda named Chii Chii that had been
amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.
transferred from Beijing Zoo to London Zoo in
 The main goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to
1958, three years before WWF became
control emissions of the main anthropogenic
established.
(human-emitted) greenhouse gases (GHGs) in
 The mission of WWF’s is to stop the
ways that reflect underlying national
degradation of the planet’s natural
differences in GHG emissions, wealth, and
environment and to build a future in which
capacity to make the reductions.
human live in harmony with nature through
 The treaty follows the main principles agreed
the following ways:
in the original 1992 UN Framework
a) Conserving the world’s biological
Convention
diversity.
 According to the treaty, in 2012, Annex I
b) Ensuring that the use of renewable
Parties who have ratified the treaty must have
natural resources is sustainable
fulfilled their obligations of greenhouse gas
c) Promoting the reduction of pollution and
emissions limitations established for the
wasteful consumption.

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Chapter 9
Globalisation

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals,

associated 169 targets and 304 indicators.
 The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),  This included the following goals:
are officially known as Transforming our
world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.

1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere 4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
2) End hunger, achieve food security and education and promote lifelong learning
improved nutrition and promote opportunities for all
sustainable agriculture 5) Achieve gender equality and empower all
3) Ensure healthy lives and promote well- women and girls
being for all at all ages 6) Ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for
all
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7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all
8) Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment and decent work
for all
9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote
inclusive and sustainable industrialization
and foster innovation
10) Reduce inequality within and among
countries
11) Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12) Ensure sustainable consumption and
production patterns
13) Take urgent action to combat climate
change and its impacts
14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans,
seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable
use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification,
and halt and reverse land degradation and
halt biodiversity loss
16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies
for sustainable development, provide
access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at
all levels
17) Strengthen the means of implementation
and revitalize the global partnership for
sustainable development

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