The Constitution of India: A Guide Through the Parts, Schedules and Articles

On 1949, 26th November, the constitution of India was passed by the Constituent Assembly; on 26th January 1950, it came into effect. Indian Constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules at the time of commencement in the year 1950. Currently, the Constitution of India comprises 470 articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules and 5 appendices. There are 104 amendments have been made in the Indian constitution till the date.

How Many Parts are There in the Indian Constitution? What are Those?

Parts in the Constitution of India	Subject Matter	Total Articles Covered
I	The Union and its territory	1 to 4
II	Citizenship	5 to 11
III	Fundamental Rights	12 to 35
IV	Directive Principles of State Policy	36 to 51
IV-A	Fundamental Duties	51-A
V	The Union Government	52 to 151
VI	The State Governments	152 to 237
VIII	The Union Territories	239 to 242
IX	The Panchayats	243 to 243 O
IX-A	The Municipalities	243-P to 243-ZG
IX-B	The Co-operative Societies	243-ZH to 243-ZT
X	The Scheduled and Tribal Areas	244 to 244-A
XI	Relations between the Union and the States	245 to 263
XII	Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits	264 to 300-A
XIII	Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the Territory of India	301 to 307
XIV	Services under the Union and the States	308 to 323
XIV-A	Tribunals	323-A to 323-B
XV	Elections	324 to 329-A
XVI	Special Provisions relating to Certain Classes	330 to 342
XVII	Official Language	343 to 351
XVIII	Emergency Provisions	352 to 360
XIX	Miscellaneous	361 to 367
XX	Amendment of the Constitution	368
XXI	Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions	369 to 392
XXII	Short title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals	393 to 395

Part V of the Indian Constitute Consists of 

Chapter I	The Executive	Articles from 52 to 78
Chapter II	Parliament	79 to 122
Chapter III	Legislative Powers of President	123
Chapter IV	The Union Judiciary	124 to 147
Chapter V	Comptroller and Auditor-General of India	148 to 151

Part VI of the Indian Constitute Consists of

Chapter I	General	Article 152
Chapter II	The Executive	153 to 167
Chapter III	The State Legislature	168 to 212
Chapter IV	Legislative Powers of Governor	213
Chapter V	The High Courts	214 to 232
Chapter VI	Subordinate Courts	233 to 237

Part XI of the Indian Constitute Consists of

Chapter I	Legislative Relations	Articles from 245 to 255
Chapter II	Administrative Relations	256 to 263

Part XII of the Indian Constitute Consists of

Chapter I	Finance	Articles from 264 to 291
Chapter II	Borrowing	292 to 293
Chapter III	Property, Contracts, Rights, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits	294 to 300
Chapter IV	Right to Property	300-A

Part XIV of the Indian Constitute Consists of

Chapter I	Services	Articles from 308 to 314
Chapter II	Public Service Commissions	315 to 323

Part XVII of the Indian Constitute Consists of

Chapter I	Language of the Union	Articles from 343 to 344
Chapter II	Regional Languages	345 to 347
Chapter III	Language of the Supreme Court, High Courts, and so on	348 to 349
Chapter IV	Special Directives	350 to 351

How Many Articles are there in the Indian Constitution?

The second-largest constitution of the world, the Indian Constitution has been amended 104 times, the latest being on 14th January 2019. It has a preamble and 470 total articles.

Among the 104 amendments, the 97th amendment brought some notable changes in the Indian constitution. It addressed the problems faced by the cooperative society and talked about bringing efficient methods to manage them.

Also Read: What is the Difference Between the Indian Forest Service and Indian Foreign Service?

Important Articles of the Indian Constitution:

Articles on the Union and its territory

Part I

The Union and its territory

Articles from 1 to 4

• Article 1- Name and territory of the union.

• Article 2- Admission and Establishment of the new state.

• Article 3- Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, and the name of existing states.

• Article 4- Changes in the names of the states.

Articles on Citizenship

Part II

Citizenship

Articles from 5 to 11

• Article 5 – Citizenship at the commencement of the constitution.

• Article 6- Rights of citizenship of a certain person who has migrated to India from Pakistan.

• Article 10- the continuance of rights of citizenship.

• Article 11- Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.

Articles on the Fundamental Rights of the Indian Constitution

Part III

Fundamental Rights

Articles from 12 to 35

• Article 12- Definition of the state

• 13- Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights.

• 14- equality before the law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

• Article 15 of the Indian Constitution- Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

• 16- Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.

• 17- Abolition of untouchability.

• 18- Abolition of titles.

• 19 to 22-  Freedom of speech and expression.

• 23 & 24- Right against exploitation, example- forced labour, human trafficking, child labour etc.

• 25 to 28- Freedom of religion.

• 29 to 30- Right to culture & education

• 31- Right to property. Though this is no longer a fundamental right but still a constitutional right.

• Articles from 32 to 35- Right to seek justice from the Supreme Court.

Articles Regarding Directive Principles of State Policy

Part IV

Directive Principles of State Policy

Articles from 36 to 51

• Article 36- Definition of state.

• 37- Application of the Directive Principle of states Policy

• 38- State to secure a social order for the promotion of the welfare of the people.

• 39- Principle of policies to be followed by the state.

• 40- Organisation of village panchayats.

• 41- Right to work, to education, and public assistance in certain cases.

• 42- Provision for justifiable working conditions.

• 43- Availability of work in a good environment.

• 43A- Involvement of the workers in the management of the company.

• 44- Uniform civil code for the citizens.

• Article 45 of the Indian Constitution- Provision for free and compulsory education for children

• 46- Promotion of educational and economic interest of scheduled castes, ST, and OBC.

• 47- Duty of the State to improve the standard of living

• 48- Develop agriculture and animal husbandry.

• 49- Protection of historically or artistically important objects.

• 50- Separation of judiciary from the executive.

• 51- Promotion of international peace and security.

Important Articles on the Union Government

Part V

The Union Government

Articles from 52 to 151

• Article 53- Executive Power of the union.

• 54- Election of President

• Article 69- Oath or affirmation by the Vice-President.

• 66-Election of Vice-president.

• 72-Pardoning powers of the President.

• 79- Constitution of Parliament

• 80- Composition of Rajya Sabha.

• 81- Composition of Lok Sabha.

• 123- Powers of the President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of parliament.

• 141-Decision of the Supreme Court binding on all the courts.

Important Articles on the State Governments

Part VI

The State Governments

Articles from 152 to 237

• 153- Governors of State

• 154 article of Indian constitution- Executive Powers of Governor.

• 213- Power of Governor to promulgate ordinances.

• Article 214- High Courts for states.

• 226- Power of High Courts to issue certain rights.

Important Articles on The Union Territories

Part  VIII

The Union Territories

Articles from 239 to 242

239- Administration of Union territories.

240- Power of President to make regulations for certain Union territories.

241- High Courts for Union territories.

Articled of Indian Constitution on The Panchayats

Part IX

The Panchayats

Articles from 243 to 243 O

Article 243A- Gram Sabha

243B- Constitution of Panchayats

Some of the Other Important Articles of the Indian Constitution

• Article 266– Consolidated Fund and Public Accounts Fund

• 267– Contingency Fund of India

• 280– Finance Commission

• 300 A– Right to property

• 301– Freedom to trade, commerce, and intercourse

• 302– Power of Parliament to impose restrictions on trade, commerce, and intercourse.

• 320 – Functions of the Public Service Commission

• 324– Superintendence, direction and control of Elections to be vested in an Election Commission.

• Article 340 – Appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes

• 348 article of Indian Constitution– Languages to be used in the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

• 352– Proclamation of emergency (National Emergency)

• 356– President’s Rule

• 360– Financial Emergency

• 361– Protection of President and Governors

• 368– Powers of Parliaments to amend the constitution

• Article 370– Special provision of J&K

• 371 A–  Special provision concerning the State of Nagaland

• 371 J– Special Status for Hyderabad–Karnataka region.

What is the Difference between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles?

The major difference between fundamental rights and directive principles is that the former one is justifiable and enforceable and the later one is non-justifiable and can not override fundamental rights. 

Fundamental rights may prohibit the state from performing various things while the directive principles require/ allows the state to perform specific things.

Fundamental rights have the aim of establishing a democratic political situation in the country while the latter one focuses on establishing social and economical democracy in the country.

How Many Rights are There in the Indian Constitution?

There were 7 fundamental rights in the Constitution of India before the 44th amendment of the Indian constitution in 1978. After this amendment, the right to property was removed.

The Present Six Rights:

• • Right to equality.
  • Right to freedom.
  • Right against exploitation.
  • Right to freedom of religion.

• Cultural and educational rights.
• Right to property.
• Right to constitutional remedies.

Indian Constitution Preamble

This is a brief statement setting out guidelines for the people of the Nation and to present the principles mentioned in the Indian Constitution. This is also indicative of the derivation source of the authority. It also consists of the hopes and aspirations of the people.

The Text of the Indian Constitution Preamble

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR 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 opportunity;

and to promote among them all FRATERNITY

assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

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Salient Features of Indian Constitution

• Longest written constitution
• Rigidity & flexibility
• Single citizenship
• Fundamental rights
• Fundamental duties
• Directive principles of state policy
• An independent judiciary
• Integrated judicial system
• Universal adult franchise
• The federal structure of government
• Parliamentary form of government
• Emergency provisions
• Systems of local self-government
• Attention to scheduled areas
• Autonomy provisions to some states

Conclusion

The Constitution of India is considered to be the supreme law of India. B.R Ambedkar is known to be the chief person behind this longest written document.

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