ABSTRACT
Indians inaugurated their constitution on January 26, 1950, and they commemorate the occasion as Republic Day. The annual parade in New Delhi down Rajpath, once called Kingsway, thrills onlookers with smartly marching soldiers, the colorfully caparisoned camel corps, schoolchildren’s pageants, and army helicopters dousing the crowds with rose petals. The process of formulating the Indian Constitution began in December 1946 when the Constituent Assembly convened in New Delhi. The more than 370 articles and 10 schedules of the constitution fill 309 pages in the 1989 edition published by the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Indian Constitution is two constitutions in one: a constitution for the national government and a constitution for the states, with provisions largely parallel to those of the national constitution. Arduous and painstaking though the drafting process was, Indians have since found it desirable to amend the constitution.
