The Constitution of India provides for a single citizenship for the whole of India. Every person who was at the commencement of the Constitution 26 January domiciled in the territory of India, and a who was born in India, or b either of whose parents was born in India, or c who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years, became a citizen of India.
The Citizenship Act, deals with matters relating to acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution. The Constitution offers all citizens, individually and collectively, some basic freedoms. These are guaranteed in the Constitution in the form of six broad categories of Fundamental Rights, which are justiciable. These are:.
By the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, adopted in , Fundamental Duties of the citizens have also been enumerated. These enjoin upon a citizen among other things, to abide by the Constitution, to cherish and follow noble ideals, which inspired India's struggle for freedom, to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so, and to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.
These lay down that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may, a social order, in which justice—social, economic and political—shall form in all institutions of national life. The State shall direct its policy in such a manner as to secure the right of all men and women to an adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work and within limits of its economic capacity and development, to make effective provision for securing the right to work, education and to public assistance in the event of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement or other cases of undeserved want.
The State shall also endeavour to secure to workers a living wage, humane conditions of work, a decent standard of life, and full involvement of workers in management of industries. In the economic sphere, the State is to direct its policy in such a manner as to secure distribution of ownership and control of material resources of community to subserve the common good, and to ensure that operation of economic system does not result in concentration of wealth and means of production to common detriment.
