15
The Indian constitution in the twenty-first century
The continuing quest for empowerment, good governance
and sustainability
Surya Deva*
i. introduction
This chapter offers critical insights into the constitutional developments in India that
have taken place in the first decade of the twenty-first century. In order to provide
context to this examination, major political developments that had a bearing on these
constitutional developments will also be reviewed. Since the roots of these political
developments lie in the twentieth century, it will be necessary to revisit that period.^1
This chapter will focus on three examples to illustrate this point. The first example
concerns socioeconomic inequalities and the exclusion of certain backward sections
of society from the mainstream: the constitution framers inherited this social matrix
and tried to remedy this with multiple constitutional measures. A gradual change-
over from a socialist to a free-market economy since the early 1990 s provides the
second example. This change-over also impacted the erstwhile socioeconomic
inequalities and exclusions. The third and final example relates to the era of coalition
governments, which firmly emerged at the national level after the 1989 elections and
has continued since then. These and other transformations of the twentieth century
impacted constitutional developments that we have witnessed since the year 2000.
India faces numerous social, economic and political challenges, some of which
stem from its being the largest democracy and the second-most populous country.
It is relatively easier to introduce economic reforms and implement government
policies in a largely authoritarian state like China, or to govern a city-state like
Singapore. This chapter focuses on the three most critical challenges currently
* I would like to thank Ms Xin Xin Silvia for her assistance in revising the footnote style.(^1) The following two books provide useful snapshots of major constitutional and political
developments over the years: Subhash C. Kashyap,Indian Constitution: Conflicts and
Controversies(New Delhi: Vitasta Publishing Pvt. Ltd, 2010 ); A.G. Noorani,Constitutional
Questions and Citizens’ Rights: An Omnibus Comprising Constitutional Questions in India
(New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006 ).