SSC CGL Polity · Indian Constitution — Making, Foundation and Amendments
Making and Features of the Constitution
The dates of the Constitution, the countries and Acts its features were borrowed from, the words of the Preamble, and the Parts and Schedules SSC asks about.
Why this matters
Twenty-five questions in the bank: 12 from the 2023 shifts, nine from the 2024 shifts and four from the 2025 shifts, 20 of them EASY. They are the quickest marks in Polity: a source country, a date, a Part number, a word of the Preamble.
Concept 1 of 2: Dates and borrowed features
Definition
The dates:
- The Drafting Committee under B. R. Ambedkar published the draft in February 1948.
- The Constitution was adopted and enacted on 26 November 1949, now Constitution Day. It came into force on 26 January 1950.
Borrowed features:
- Britain: parliamentary government, the law-making procedure, the rule of law, single citizenship.
- USA: Fundamental Rights, judicial review, independence of the judiciary.
- Ireland: the Directive Principles, nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
- France: the republic, and liberty, equality and fraternity.
- Australia: the Concurrent List. Canada: a federation with a strong Centre. USSR: Fundamental Duties.
From British Acts: the Government of India Act, 1919 first gave the Centre two Houses; the 1935 Act gave the federal scheme with provincial autonomy.
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Indian Constitution — Making, Foundation and Amendments · Making and Features of the Constitution
Enacted 1949, in force 1950
1919 for two Houses, 1935 for provincial autonomy
Concept 2 of 2: Preamble, Parts and Schedules
Definition
The Preamble's words, exactly:
- Justice, social, economic and political. Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Equality of status and of opportunity. Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual.
- Republic means the head of the State is elected, not hereditary.
The original Constitution had 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules.
Parts:
- Part II (Arts 5 to 11): citizenship. India has single citizenship; in the USA a person is a citizen of the country and of a State (dual citizenship).
- Part V: the Union; Articles 52 to 78 are the Union Executive, including the Vice-President's election.
- Part IXB: co-operative societies (97th Amendment); the Supreme Court struck down part of it in July 2021.
- Part XV: elections and the Election Commission.
- Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari is the official language of the Union.
Schedules: the Seventh holds the three Lists. The Sixth applies to the tribal areas of four States, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, and lets autonomous district councils make laws on listed subjects.
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Indian Constitution — Making, Foundation and Amendments · Making and Features of the Constitution
No dual citizenship in India
The Sixth Schedule skips Nagaland and Arunachal
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
Watch out for (4)
- Enacted 1949, in force 1950→ Dates and borrowed features
- 1919 for two Houses, 1935 for provincial autonomy→ Dates and borrowed features
- No dual citizenship in India→ Preamble, Parts and Schedules
- The Sixth Schedule skips Nagaland and Arunachal→ Preamble, Parts and Schedules
Test yourself on Indian Constitution — Making, Foundation and Amendments
20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.