Meaning and Concept of Preamble

The preamble is also known as the spirit and backbone of the Indian Constitution.
Not
reading the preamble makes no sense in reading the Constitution. It is the preamble which
gives a brief idea about why the constitution has been prepared. The preamble can be
classified or broke into 3 parts:
According to the first part, the people of India solemnly resolved India into a “Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”. Each and every word of the preamble is wisely
chosen and arranged in such a way that by reading, the preamble makes a clear picture of
India’s stand towards its citizen.
The second part says to secure the liberty, equality, justice and to promote unity and
integrity among all.
The last part is declaratory, where the people of India in their constituent assembly adopt,
enacted and gave themselves this constitution.
The Constitution of India begins with a Preamble which describes the nature of the Indian
State and the objectives it is committed to secure. Indian constitution is the second in the
world to start with Preamble.
Meaning and concept of Preamble:
The preamble is the introduction to the statutes i.e. introduction to the constitution. A
preamble means a declaration made by the legislature with the objective for the passing of
the statute and is helpful in the interpretation of any of the statute.
The proper function of the preamble is to explain the meaning of some words and recite
certain facts which are necessary to be explained. A preamble may be used for other
reasons, such as, to limit the scope of certain expression or to explain facts or introduce
definitions.
Scope of preamble:
The preamble plays a very important role in shaping the destiny of the country. The
preamble gives a brief idea to the makers of the constitution so that the constituent
assembly make plans and formulates the constitution.
The only question raised about the scope of the preamble is whether it is the part of the
Indian Constitution or not? The answer to this question is dealt later in this article. But the
main purpose of the preamble is to clarify the idea behind the constitution, i.e. what is the
source, what are the ultimate goals and objectives behind it.
The preamble does not grant any power to anyone but it gives the structure on which the
Indian Constitution stands like:
1. The country should be “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”.

2. The government should be elected by the people, for the people, and of the people.
3. The real sovereign power should be vested on the people of India.
4. The people should get Justice, Liberty and Equality.
Basically, all the provisions/Article of the constitution were made by keeping all these in
mind, so that it does not violate public sovereignty.
The Preamble Says:
We, the People of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic and to secure to all its citizens:
 Justice, social, economic, political

 Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship
 Equality of status and opportunity, and to promote among them all
 Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the
nation
The words Socialist,Secular and Integrity were initially not there in the Preamble . These
were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) of the Constitution.
Now, the features of the Preamble:
The Source Of authority:
 Popular Sovereignty:
The Preamble categorically accepts the principle of Popular Sovereignty. It begins with the
words: ‘We the people of India’. These words testify to the fact that the people of India are’
the ultimate source of all authority. The Government derives its power from them.
Nature of State:
 India is a Sovereign State:
The Preamble proclaims that India is a sovereign state. Such a proclamation denotes the
end of rule over India. It testifies to the fact that India is no longer a dependency or colony
or possession of British Crown. As a sovereign independent state, India is free both
internally and externally to take her own decisions and implement these for her people and
territories.
 India is a Socialist State:

In 1976, the preamble was amended to include the word 'socialism'. It is now
regarded as a prime feature of the state. It reflects the fact that India is committed to
secure social, economic and political justice for all its people. India stands for ending
all forms of exploitation as well for securing equitable distribution of income,
resources and wealth. this has to be secured by peaceful, constitutional and
democratic means. The term' India is a socialist state ' really means, 'India is a
democratic socialist state'.
 India is a Secular State:

By the 42nd Amendment, the term ‘Secular’ was incorporated in the Preamble. Its
inclusion simply made the secular nature of the Indian Constitution more explicit. As
a state India gives special status to no religion. There is no such thing as a state
religion of India. India guarantees equal freedom to all religions. All religions enjoy
equality of status and respect.
 India is a Democratic State:

The Preamble declares India to be a Democratic State. The Constitution of India
provides for a democratic system. The authority of the government rests upon the
sovereignty of the people. The people enjoy equal political rights. The people freely
participate in the democratic process of self rule.They elect their government. For all
its acts, the government is responsible before the people. The people can change
their government through elections. The government enjoys limited powers. It
always acts under the Constitution which represents the supreme will of the people.
 India is a Republic:
The Preamble declares India to be a Republic. Negatively, this means that India is not ruled
by a monarch or a nominated head of state. Positively, it means that India has an elected
head of state who wields power for a fixed term. President of India is the elected sovereign
head of the state. He holds a tenure of 5 years. Any Indian citizen can get elected as the
President of India.
Four Objectives of the Indian State:
 Justice:
India seeks to secure social, economic and political justice for its people.
Social Justice:
Social Justice means the absence of socially privileged classes in the society and no
discrimination against any citizen on grounds of caste, creed, colour, religion, sex or place of
birth. India stands for eliminating all forms of exploitations from the society.
Economic Justice:
Economic Justice means no discrimination between man and man on the basis of income,
wealth and economic status. It stands for equitable distribution of wealth, economic
equality, end of monopolistic control over means of production and distribution,
decentralization of economic resources, and securing of adequate opportunities to all for
earning their livelihoods.
Political Justice:
Political Justice means equal, free and fair opportunities to the people for participation in
the political process. It stands for the grant of equal political rights to all the people without
any discrimination. The Constitution of India provides for a liberal democracy in which all
the people have the right and freedom to participate.
 Liberty:
The Preamble declares liberty to be the second cardinal objective to be secured. It includes
liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. The grant of Fundamental Rights
(Part III) including the right to freedom is designed to secure this objective. Liberty of faith
and worship is designed to strengthen the spirit of secularism.
 Equality:
Equality of status i.e. natural equality of all persons as equal and free citizens of India
enjoying equality before law.
Equality of opportunity i.e. adequate opportunities for all to develop. For securing the
equality of status and opportunity, the Constitution of India grants and guarantees the
fundamental Right to Equality.
 Fraternity:
Promotion of Fraternity among the people is the fourth objective is to promote Fraternity
among all the people. Fraternity means the inculcation of a strong feeling of spiritual and
psychological unity among the people. It is designed to secure dignity of the individual and
unity and integrity of the nation.
Date of adoption and Enactment:
In its final paragraph, the Preamble specifies the important historical fact that the
Constitution was adopted on 26 November, 1949. It was on this day that the Constitution
received the signatures of the President of the Constituent Assembly and was declared
passed.
Self-made Constitution:
The Constitution of India is an adopted, enacted and self-made constitution. It was adopted
and enacted by the Constituent Assembly acting as the elected representative body of the
people of India. The Preamble states the philosophical foundations of the Constitution India
and enumerates its objectives.
It constitutes a Key for the interpretation of the Constitution. It is a part of the Basic
Structure of the Constitution. Through, it’s Preamble, the Constitution a commits itself to
Democracy, Republicanism, Socialism, Secularism, Liberalism and Welfare State. The
Preamble states the objectives which the Constitution is committed to secure for all the
people of India.

Meaning and Concept of Preamble

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The preamble is also known as the spirit and backbone of the Indian Constitution.

1. The country should be “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”.

 Justice, social, economic, political

 India is a Sovereign State:

 India is a Socialist State:

 India is a Secular State:

 India is a Democratic State:

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