PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Making of the Constitution

The making of the Indian Constitution is described as an attempt towards ‘social revolution’. Comment.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 not merely a transfer of power → makers aimed to remake an unequal society → “social revolution” fits

Route 2 Santhanam’s three revolutions → social revolution = exit from medievalism of birth, religion, custom, community

Body flow

intent shaped the core design → Preamble (justice, liberty, equality, fraternity) → Fundamental Rights attack discrimination, untouchability, forced labour → Directive Principles seek welfare state, economic justice, education, social security → universal adult suffrage = revolutionary democratic step → reservations for SC / ST / backward classes = historical injustice addressed → Austin: a social document; Part III + Part IV = “conscience of the Constitution”

Counter-view

revolution by constitutional, peaceful means, not sudden upheaval → Ambedkar: political democracy must rest on social democracy → persisting inequality can betray it

Conclusion routes

Route 1 description holds: a legal and moral framework for social transformation

Route 2 revolution in design and intent; its completion lay in society, not in the text alone

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2022, Making of the Constitution