Policy Watch: Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions – January 2025

The January 2025 issue of Policy Watch is on the theme Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions. This issue is special as 26th January 2025 is the 75th anniversary of our Constitution. Though our Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions are under serious threat, this is a time to celebrate. In that spirit the first article describes the number of activities and program that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation began organising since April 2024, as a build up to the 75th anniversary celebrations. The next article describes the content of the Exhibition celebrating the 75th Year of India’s Constitution. It is designed by the “We the People Abhiyaan”. It is called The Making of the Constitution.

We felt that in this moment of elation, we should also take stock of how the Constitution has remained a living document, while being buffeted by changes in the social-economic environment, as also in the political culture. Thus, we have an article each on amendments, violations and case judgments which have remade the Constitution to some extent.

We intersperse the celebration and the critique by reproducing Dr Ambedkar’s speech in the Constituent Assembly on the eve of the adoption of the Constitution, on 26th Nov 1949. Not only did he play a seminal role as the Chair of the Drafting Committee, but indeed he was the intellectual anchor of the Constitution. And along with Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Ambekar put his full moral weight behind the Constitution. We have highlighted some of his speech excerpts for their eternal relevance.

The fourth article – How the Constitution is Unmade – deals with major violations of the Constitution, classified under a few important headings. The fifth article – How the Constitution is Remade – deals with the important Constitutional Amendments, classified under a few important headings. Both of these articles are based on work done by RGICS Visiting Fellow Arnab Bose.

The last article continues with the theme How the Constitution is Remade. It deals with Landmark Case Judgements, mostly by the Supreme Court, which strengthened, and in some cases weakened the principles enshrined in the Constitution. It has been put together by Prof Somnath Ghosh, Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow, RGICS.