Why is  the Constitution necessary to regulate a country?

To understand this question first we need to understand 'what is constitution'. The constitution is nothing but a power map means it is the mapping of the powers of different branches of government. Or, we can say that it is the basic set of rules of the society by which head of the society can govern. Suppose, a community filled with people from various background. Someone from different religions, customs and rituals and some from others. You want X rules and some other wants Y rule. You may think the rules you want everyone to live by are the best, but others think that their rules are the best. So, to balance every individual's needs and deeds basic rules have been set up by the government to govern the society smoothly. And that is the need of the Constitution.

Concluding all this, we need the Constitution because:

• The Constitutions strive for a delicate balance to ensure that the collective power of society invested in the state is neither dissipated nor fragmented to become ineffective (for this results in lawlessness and anarchy detrimental to the realisation of the good life), nor so tightly organised and  untrammelled that it takes away our freedoms, becomes oppressive.
• To protect the rights of individuals and minorities so that their rights are not suppressed by the majority preferences.
• To protect everyone against human vulnerability in general. It is important not to forget that human beings are fallible, that they sometimes forget what is good for them; they yield to temptations that please them now but pain later.
• To provide a moral framework for profound, non-violent social transformations.

Apart from what and why it is very necessary to understand the types of Constitution. Because meaning and needs may be similar but types vary concerning countries. It can be 'MONARCHICAL' or maybe 'DEMOCRATIC' or maybe 'COMMUNIST' or maybe ' SOCIALIST'.

When the idea of the Constitution for the first time?

Even though the Constitution came into force in 1950, the demand for a Constituent Assembly was made back in 1934. M.N Roy, a pioneer of the communist movement in India and an advocate of radical Democracy was the person who for the first time in 1934 put forth the Idea an Indian Constituent Assembly for framing of Constitution of India for and according to Indians.

The Assembly held its first meeting on December 9, 1946, and elected Dr. Sachhidanand Sinha, the oldest member of the Assembly as the Provisional President. On December 11, 1946, the Assembly elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as its permanent Chairman. The strength of the Assembly was reduced to 299 (229 representing the provinces and 70 representing the states) following withdrawal of the Muslim League members after the partition of the country

The Constituent Assembly set up 13 committees for framing the constitution. On the basis of the reports of these committees, a draft of the Constitution was prepared by a seven-member Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr B R Ambedkar.

The drafting Constitution was published in January, 1948 and people were given eight months. After the draft was discussed by the people, the press, the provincial assemblies and the Constituent Assembly in the light of the suggestions received, the same was finally adopted on November, 26, 1949, and was signed by the President of the Assembly. Thus, it took the Constituent Assembly 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete the task.

From where the idea of the seventh schedule borrowed?

In the context of dissemination of legislative powers, the framer of our constitution did maintain a similarity along with the pattern laid down by the Government of India Act, 1935 which allowed the predominance to be given to the union parliament over the state legislature or assemblies. The legislative powers revolve around the scheme of distribution of powers between the union and state legislature which is provided in the three lists under the 7th schedule of the constitution which entails. In Government of India Act, 1935 there was the provision of the division of powers in between the centre and states. And this power was divided into three lists I.e.,

• List 1- Federal List- contained 59 subjects (Today's Union List)
• List 2- Provincial List- contained 54 subjects ( Today's State List)
• List 3- Concurrent List- contained 36 subjects (Today's Concurrent list)

And those subjects which don't cover under this three list categorised as "RESIDUAL LIST". Unlike the federal governments of the United States, Switzerland or Australia, residual powers remain with the Union Government, as with the Canadian federal government.

The concept of ‘Concurrent List’ in the Indian Constitution has been borrowed from the Constitution of Australia. Both the Central Government and State Government both can make laws on the subjects that come under the category of Concurrent List. The matters on which uniformity of legislation throughout the country is desirable but not mandatory are enumerated in the concurrent list.

Union List Subjects

Some of the important subjects are:

Defence; Army; International Relations; Ports; Railways; Highways; Communication

State List Subjects

Some of the important subjects are:

Public order; Police; Public health and sanitation; hospitals and dispensaries; Betting and gambling

Concurrent List Subjects

Some of the important subjects are:

Education; Forest; Trade unions; Marriage; Adoption; Succession

Who made the great contribution in framing the Indian Constitution?

The Constitution of India was adopted on 26th November 1949 and enacted on 26th January 1950. The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly established under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. The 299 individuals who comprised the Constituent Assembly can therefore rightfully be termed as the founding fathers and mothers of the Republic of India. Certain members of the Constituent Assembly played a key role, the foremost of whom was  B.R. Ambedkar, whose role as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Assembly has earned him the popular moniker of ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’. Other Congress stalwarts like Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru,  Rajendra Prasad, and Maulana Azad were also dominant voices in Assembly proceedings. A special mention must go to Constitutional Advisor,  B.N. Rau who compiled the initial draft that the assembly debated after taking inputs from constitutional experts at home and abroad.

      Among them, the most important contribution was made by Dr B R Ambedkar. He was appointed as the chairman of the constitution drafting committee on August 29, 1947. He believed that the gap between different classes was important to equalize, otherwise, it will be very difficult to maintain the unity of the country. He emphasized on religious, gender and caste equality. Ambedkar introduced the reservation system to create a social balance amongst the classes.

There were few women also who contributed extraordinarily and they were:

• Ammu Swaminathan
• Dakshayani Velayudhan
• Begum Aizaz Rasul
• Durgabai Deshmukh
• Hansa Jivraj Mehta
• Kamla Chaudhary
• Leela Roy
• Malati Choudhury
• Purnima Banerjee
• Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
• Renuka Ray
• Sarojini Naidu
• Sucheta Kriplani
• Vijalakshami Pandit
• Annie Mascarene

The original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy. The Constitution was published in Dehradun and photolithographed by the Survey of India.

How many parts, articles and schedules in the Constitution?

The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950. At the time of its adoption, the Constitution contained 395 Articles and 8 Schedules and was about 145,000 words long, making it the longest national Constitution to ever be adopted. Every Article in the Constitution was debated by the members of the Constituent Assembly, who sat for 11 sessions and 166 days to frame the Constitution, over 2 years, 11 months and 18 days. Now, India has the world’s lengthiest constitution with 448 articles, 25 parts and 12 schedules. There are 104 amendments made to the constitution to date.

12 schedules of our Constitution are

First schedule – The list of states and union territories and their territories

Second schedule – Provisions of the President, Governors of States, Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State, the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India the list of states and union territories and their territories.

Third Schedule – The Forms of Oaths or Affirmations.

Fourth Schedule – Provisions as to the allocation of seats in the Council of States.

Fifth Schedule – Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes.

Sixth Schedule – Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Seventh Schedule – The Union list, State list and the concurrent list.

Eighth Schedule – The list of recognized languages.

Ninth Schedule – Provisions as to the validation of certain Acts and Regulations.

Tenth Schedule – Provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection.

Eleventh Schedule – The powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.

Twelfth Schedule – The powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities.

And in part-wise

Part I- The Union and its territory(Art. 1-4)

Part II- Citizenship(Art. 5-11)

Part III- Fundamental Rights(Art. 12-35)

Part IV- Directive Principles(Art. 36-51)

Part IVA- Fundamental Duties(Art. 51A)

Part V- The Union(Art. 52 to 151)

   Chapter I – The Executive (Art.52 to 78)

   Chapter II – Parliament (Art.79 to 122)

   Chapter III – Legislative Powers of President (Art.123)

  Chapter IV – The Union Judiciary (Art. 124 to 147)

  Chapter V – Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (Art.148 to 151)

Part VI  The States(Art. 152 to 237)

  Chapter I – General (Art.152)

  Chapter II – The Executive (Art.153 to 167)

  Chapter III – The State Legislature (Art.168 to 212)

  Chapter IV – Legislative Powers of Governor (Art.213)

  Chapter V – The High Courts (Art.214 to 232)

  Chapter VI – Subordinate Courts (Art.233 to 237)

Part VII - States in the B part of the First schedule

Repealed by Const. (7th Amendment) Act, 1956

Part VIII- The Union Territories(Art. 239 to 242)

Part IX - The Panchayats(Art. 243 to 243O)

Part IXA- The Municipalities(Art. 243P to 243ZG)

Part ISBN Co-operative Societies(Art. 243H to 243ZT)