India became Indepen­dent on 15th August, 1947. The first thing to do was to make a Constitution for the country. A Constitution is a documents of rules according to which the Government of a country is run. To make the Constitution an assembly of the elected representatives of the people was set up. It was called the Constituent Assembly. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly.

A sub-committee of some members of the Constituent Assembly was formed to draft a constitution. This committee was known as the Drafting Committee. Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkor was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. This committee drafted a Constitution for the country.

The draft Constitution prepared by this committee was presented to the Constituent Assembly. It was discussed by the elected representatives of the people in the Constituent Assembly. They made certain changes and then the Constitution was accepted. It took about three years to frame the Constitution.

The New Constitution came into force on 26th January 1950. With it India became a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic. Every year on 26th January, we celebrate our Republic Day with great pomp and show.

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According to our Constitution, India is a Democratic Republic. The real power rests with the people. The Government of the country is run by the elected representa­tives of the people. India is a Republic. It means we have no king. The President or the Rashtrapati is the head of the Government. He represents our people, because he is elected by the elected representatives of our people.

Our President lives in the Rashtrapati Bhawan at New Delhi. Rashtrapati Bhawan is a very big house. It has big halls where the President meets the foreign dignitaries and some important persons of the country. It is near the Parliament House, where the representatives of our people meet to discuss and frame rules for the country. Our Rashtrapati is the Constitutional Head of the State. The Government is actually run by the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers. ,The Council of Ministers is chosen by the Prime Minister. Therefore he is the real Head of the State.

Our Constitution has given some Fundamental Rights to all citizens. These rights cannot be taken back except in the case of an emergency. These rights are right to freedom, right to vote and the right to constitutional remedies. Every citizen has the freedom to express his thoughts and ideas. He can express his thoughts and ideas by speech or in writing. He is free to live in any part of the country and follow any profession or occupation of his choice. All the citizens are equal before the law. Rich or poor, high or low all are equal without any distinction of any caste or creed or sex before the law. Every citizen is free to follow and propagate any faith or religion. He is free to worship in any way and perform the religious ceremonies. Every citizen above the age of 18 years has the right to vote. He can vote for any candidate in an election and elect the candidate of his choice.

Rights and duties go together. Every citizen should perform his duties honestly and diligently. Some of our important duties are to obey the rules and laws of the country, respect the rights of other citizens, pay the taxes honestly and in time and defend our country in times of need. Our Constitution is a written and a detailed documents which tells us how the Government of our country should run.