 On this day, the 26th of January 1950, the people of our country through their accredited representatives have redeemed a solemn pledge. A pledge made some 20 years ago in distant Lahore. A pledge which brings into being a new nation. A new nation, but with an ancient heritage. A republic that once again takes its rightful place among the freedom-loving countries of the world. We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign democratic republic and to secure to all its citizens justice social economic and political liberty of thought expression belief faith and worship equality of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation in our constituent assembly do hereby adopt enact and give to ourselves this constitution but to the common man of India that is you and you and you and you what exactly do these words signify they mean that henceforth each one of us will have the fundamental rights of equality before the law equality of opportunity in matters of public appointment abolition of untouchability the rights to freedom of speech and expression protection of life and personal liberty prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labor freedom of religion protection of minorities and many other safeguards these safeguards which are the very bulwarks of democracy have been guaranteed to us in the written constitution the drafting of our new constitution has been no easy task and before its first word was put on paper the notable constitutions of other countries were first consulted these constitutions can be classified under two categories the unitary and the federal our constitution is in large measure of the federal type and the federating units are many in various they consist of one states formerly known as provinces two the newly created unions of states and the old states of Hyderabad Mysore and Kashmir three the chief commissioners provinces each one of us living within a state regardless of occupation or sex has the right of sending representatives to the state assembly as well as to the central legislature if then 75,000 of us of any state get together and provided we are over 21 we have the right of collectively electing one representative to the state assembly according to the present divisions of the country there will be a maximum of 500 and a minimum of 60 representatives in each of the state assembly now the procedure of electing a representative to the central legislature is slightly different our more of us have to get together in fact 10 times as many and between us we send one representative to the central legislature here also there are no class or sex restrictions but we must be over the age of 21 to have the power to vote there will be about 500 members elected and they will form the house of the people 205 members will be elected from the state assemblies these two houses along with the president will be called the parliament parliament on the one hand and state assemblies on the other will combine to elect the president the vice president will be elected by vote of parliament alone and he will be the ex officio chairman of the council of states immediately upon his election the president will call upon the leader of the majority party in the house of the people to accept the office of prime minister the prime minister will then choose his cabinet from among his colleagues the president will select 12 persons who are acknowledged leaders in their respective spheres such as in the arts science agriculture and so on and nominate them to the council of states the president will also nominate the state governors but the governors will be purely constitutional heads for the real business of conducting the states will be carried on by the premier and his cabinet like the center the state legislature in the six major states of behind bombay madras banjab the united provinces and west vengal will consist of two houses the other states will have one house only the state legislature must meet twice a year at intervals of not more than six months and it can legislate on 66 different matters the most important of them are law and order help agriculture fisheries education entertainment the central government on the other hand can legislate on 97 different items the most important of which are defense foreign affairs communications posts and telegraphs finance including currency trade and commerce mines and power but there is always danger of abuse of power by the executive and therefore every constitution provides for safeguards our constitution has provided for safeguards first the judiciary consisting of the supreme court and the various high courts these will safeguard the fundamental rights of the citizen by just and proper interpretation of the law second by a controller and auditor general who will see to it that the funds of the union are wisely utilized third the union public service commission which will be in charge of recruitment to the services required by the country and fourth the election commissioner who will be responsible for fair and impartial elections and who will be free from any executive interference the president of the union as head of the state will have vested in him all executive powers including command of the armed forces that is the army the navy and the air force moreover he can summon or pro-world parliament he can grant pardons promulgate ordinances and so forth but in spite of these powers the president will act only on the advice of the prime minister and his cabinet and in case of malpractices the president can be impeached thus he is a constitutional president ahead of a state similar to the king of england but unlike the king the status of president of the indian union is not determined by one of aristocratic birth for he can be from among the humblest in the land his only qualification for the post is that he has the confidence of the people of the indian union our constitution as we have seen falls under three heads there is the legislature to enact laws there is the executive to carry them out and the independent judiciary to see that the laws are properly and correctly interpreted our constitution therefore to bring this about lays down certain directive principles and some of them are one that the citizens men and women equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood two that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good three and the children of tender age are not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter applications unsuited to their years or strength four that the state shall endeavor to provide for free and compulsory education for all children five the state shall within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work in cases of unemployment old age and sickness six the state shall take steps to organize village puntya seven the state shall endeavor agriculture and animal husbandry on modern scientific lines eight the state shall endeavor to promote international peace and security and maintain just and honorable relations between nations it can be truly said of our democratic republic that it has a single citizenship that of the union a single state language that of hindi in the devanagri script although full scope will be given to the various regional languages and a single pattern of administration the parliamentary system established on the foundations of adult franchise when we consider them that our franchise involves a vote six times the number that we had before independence a number that is nearly equal to the total portion of the soviet union a number that exceeds by 30 million the population of the entire united states of america we can begin to comprehend and appreciate the vastness of our democracy and the glorious legacy that is ours a legacy that requires each one of us to do his utmost in making our constitution become a living reality jai hin