Meaning of Republic- A Country is a republic country where head of the state is not hereditary. Head of the State may be elected, military ruler, dictator, nazi, fascist or communist ruler etc. but must not be Hereditary.
India – Head of the State – President – Nominal or symbolic head – Mrs. Draupdi Murmu Head of the Govt. – Prime Minister – Real Head of the govt. – Shri Narendra Modi
Britain – Head of the State – British Monarch – Nominal or Symbolic Head – King Charles III Head of the govt. – Prime Minister – Real Head of the govt – Mr. Rishi Sunak
USA – Head of the State – President Same Person is Head of State as well as Head of Govt Head of the govt. – President (Mr. Joe Biden)
Presently, British Monarch (King Charles III) is the head of the state of 15 countries e.g, Jamaica, Bahamas, Grenada, Australia, Canada, New Zealand etc. as well as of Britain.
India got independent on 15th Aug 1947 and at that time, we were not a Republic country.
Sh. J.L. Nehru became our first Prime Minster (Head of the Government) & British King George VI was our head of the State. British King appointed Lord Mountbatten as his representative in India and was given designation as Governor General and his tenure was for the period 15-8-47 to 21-6-1948.Lord Mountbatten administered oath of office and secrecy to Sh. J.L. Nehru. Thereafter, British King George VI appointed an Indian, Sh. Chakravorthy Rajgopalachari as his representative in India and he served India as Governor General for the period 21-6-1948 to 26-1-1950.
So, during the period 15-8-1947 to 26-1-1950, our head of the State used to be British Monarch & British Monarch is hereditary. So, we were although an independent country but not a republic.
From 26th Jan 1950, we switched from hereditary head of the state (British Monarch) to a non-hereditary head of the state (President of India) and our status converted from Non-Republic to a Republic country because the post of Indian President is not hereditary. The name of our country changed from India to Republic of India. Any Indian citizen is eligible to be elected as President. That is why we became a republic country on 26th Jan 1950 and we do celebrate our Republic Day on 26th Jan every year.
Now, Mrs. Draupdi Murmu is our Head of the State & Narendra Modi is Head of the Govt.
Similarly, Pakistan became an independent country on 14th Aug 1947 and M.A. Jinnah a representative of King George VI became Governor General whereas Liyakat Ali Khan became 1st Prime Minister (Head of the govt.) British Monarch was head of the State. On 23rd March 1956, Pakistan switched from hereditary head of state to a non-hereditary head of the state and became a Republic Country. Iskandar Mirza became 1st President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Now Shehbaz Sharif is 23rd Prime Minister & Dr. Aarif Alvi is 13th President of Pakistan. Pakistan celebrates its republic day as Pakistan day on 23rd March every year.
Most of us relate Republic with Democracy but there is absolutely no connection between them e.g. China is a Republic Country but not democratic. India is Republic as well as democratic. Britain is not republic but democratic, Saudi Arabia neither republic nor democratic. These two are totally different terms.
Examples of Republic Countries India, Pakistan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Srilanka,
Bangladesh, France, Germany etc.
Non Republic Countries, Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Spain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Bahamas, Grenada etc.
Newest Republic of the World
The world’s newest Republic- The Caribbean country Barbados has become the World’s newest Republic with the new name as The Republic of Barbados w.e.f. 30th November 2021. Barbados has broken its bond with Britain. Now British Monarch is no longer the Head of the State of Barbados.
Ms. Dane Sandra Prunella Mason – the Governor General of Barbados became the first President of the Republic of Barbados.
However Barbados has declared its continuance of membership with the commonwealth. Commonwealth has 54 member states and British monarch is the head of the commonwealth nations. India is also a member of Commonwealth .
Meaning of Government
Government is a composite body consisting of three organs – Legislature, Executive & Judiciary
Government
In India we have two types of govts.
- Union Government / Central
- State
Now we have one union govt. & 28 state govts.
We had 28 states in India. On 2/6/2014, Telangana state was created by dividing Andhra Pradesh state into two states – Andhra Pradesh & Telangana. Then total no of states became 29.
On 31/10/2019, The State of Jammu & Kashmir was divided into two union territories – Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir and union territory of Ladakh. So, now we have 28 states.
Similarly, we had 7 union territories. On 31/10/2019, the State of Jammu & Kashmir was divided into two union territories making the total no. of UT’s as 9.
On 25/1/2020, the two union territories, Union Territory of Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Union Territory of Daman & Diu were merged into one and the name of new UT is Union Territory of Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. Now total no of UT’s is 8.
Composition of Union Govt.
Union Govt.
Composition of State Govt.
Important Points
Indian Constitution was adopted / enacted on 26th Nov 1949 Indian Constitution was implemented / enforced on 26th Jan 1950 Republic Day 26th Jan
Constitution Day 26th Nov
Last Viceroy of India- Lord Mountbatten
1st Governor General of Independent India- Lord Mountbatten
1st Indian Governor General of Independent India- Chakaraborthy Rajgopalachari 1st President of India – Dr Rajendra Prasad
15th President of India – Mrs. Draupdi Murmu 1st PM of India – Pt. J.L. Nehru
15th P.M. of India – Narendra Modi
1st V.P. of India – Dr. S. Radhakrishnan 14th V.P. of India Jagdeep Dhankar
Our Constitution was prepared by – Constituent Assembly.
1st Meeting of Constituent Assembly was held on 9th Dec 1946. Last Meeting of Constituent Assembly was held on 24th Jan 1950.
Temporary Chairperson of Constituent Assembly – Dr. Sachidanand Sinha
Chairperson of Constituent Assembly – Dr Rajendra Prasad. Vice Chairperson of Constituent Assembly – H.C. Mookherjee Advisor to Constituent Assembly. – B.N. Rau
Chairperson of Drafting Committee of Constitution – Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as first president of India by Constituent Assembly in its last meeting held on 24/1/1950. Thereafter Constituent Assembly was converted into Indian Parliament (more precisely Rajya Sabha).
Dr. Rajendra Prasad became first President of India on 26th Jan 1950.
