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Constitution Making and Basic Features – UPSC GS2

This module of the GS Paper 2: Polity, Governance, Social Justice & IR course covers historical background, constituent assembly, preamble, salient features, union territory and citizenship. It has 5 study lessons and a 40-question practice quiz. Free lessons can be read in full; premium lessons show a preview.

Lessons in this module

1. Historical Background: Company Rule to the Government of India Act 1935

Free 7 min

About two-thirds of the Constitution's administrative machinery – the federal scheme, the Public Service Commissions, the Governor's office, the emergency provisions and the three legislative lists – grew out of laws passed by the British…

2. The Constituent Assembly and the Making of the Constitution

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The demand that Indians should frame their own constitution was first put forward by M.N. Roy in 1934. The Indian National Congress officially demanded a Constituent Assembly in 1935, and Jawaharlal Nehru declared in 1938…

3. The Preamble: Text, Keywords and Judicial Interpretation

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The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It is based on the Objectives Resolution drafted and moved by Nehru and adopted by the Constituent Assembly. N.A. Palkhivala called it the "identity card of the…

4. Salient Features and Sources of the Constitution

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The Constitution of India is distinctive in its size, its blend of borrowed and indigenous ideas, and its balance between rigidity and flexibility, federalism and unity, and parliamentary sovereignty and judicial review. UPSC asks both…

5. The Union and its Territory; Citizenship

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Article 1 says "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States". Ambedkar explained the choice of "Union": the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among states (unlike the American federation),…

 Module quiz: Constitution Making and Basic Features (40 questions)

Maps & infographics in this module

Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858, which ended Company rule
Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858, which ended Company rule. Credit: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
Timeline of nine British Acts from the Regulating Act 1773 to the Indian Independence Act 1947 with their main feature
Each Act added a building block; the 1935 Act supplied the framework the Constitution later adapted.
Table linking seven features of the present Constitution to the colonial Act where they originated
Many institutions were inherited and democratised rather than invented afresh.
Jawaharlal Nehru addressing the Constituent Assembly
Jawaharlal Nehru addressing the Constituent Assembly. Credit: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
B. R. Ambedkar with family and friends at his home, Rajagriha, Bombay, 1934
B. R. Ambedkar with family and friends at his home, Rajagriha, Bombay, 1934. Credit: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly
Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly. Credit: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.

Frequently asked questions

Lessons: Historical Background: Company Rule to the Government of India Act 1935; The Constituent Assembly and the Making of the Constitution; The Preamble: Text, Keywords and Judicial Interpretation; Salient Features and Sources of the Constitution; The Union and its Territory; Citizenship.

Answer: Regulating Act, 1773. The Regulating Act 1773 provided for it; the court was set up in 1774.

Answer: Charter Act, 1833. The Charter Act 1833 made Lord William Bentinck the first Governor-General of India.

Answer: Charter Act, 1853. The 1853 Act introduced open competition; the Macaulay Committee followed in 1854.

Answer: Indian Councils Act, 1909. The Morley–Minto Reforms (1909) introduced separate electorates.

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