Ans:

1. They direct the state to strengthen village panchayats as units of self-government,
2. To secure for its citizens protection against unemployment old age and sickness
3. To provide the citizens living wage, a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities
4. To secure a uniform civil code, promote economic and educational interests of the weaker sections, prevents low slaughter, protect histories monuments.
5. To promote international peace and international law. Directive principles of state policy provide to the state more than it can chew. If all of them are put to practice, it would be a paradise on earth of democratic and egalitarian virtues. They constitute the measuring rod for the achievement of the state.

Ans:

The Ashoka Mehta Committee was appointed by the cabinet secretariat in 1977, to make an enquiry into the working of the panchayati Raj institutions and to suggest measures to strengthen them. The recommendations mad by the Committee are as follows:

1. Below the state level, the district should be made the first point of decentralization.
2. There should be two-tier system – Zila Paris had of the district level and mandal Panchayat. For sometimes, the Panchayat Samiti at the block level and panchayat at village level may have to be continued. The block level samitis may be converted into non-statutory executive committees of Zila Parishd.
3. The Zila Parishad is to consist of six types of members- members elected from suitable demarcated electoral words or constituencies, president of the panchayat Samitis (till they continue nominees of bigger municipalities as well as of the district cooperative federation, two women and two coopted members – One of the co-opted members should have special interest in rural development and the other should be reserved on the basis of their population. The chairman of the Zila Parishad is to be elected by the members from amongst themselves.
4. A mandal panchayat would cover a population of 15000+20000. It would consist of 15 member directly elected on village – cum – population basic representatives of farmers, service societies and two women. There should be seats for schedules castes and schedules tribes reserved on the basis of their population. Its president would be elected by the directly elected members from amongst themselves.
5. The political parties should participate in the elections to panchayati raj institutions. It would result in healthier linkages with higher level political process. Political parties are an essential ingredient of the democratic process.
6. These should be a regular social audit by a district level agency s well as by a committee of legislators, to check whether funds allocated for these groups are actually spent on them.
7. The state government should refrain from superseding the panchayati raj institutions on partition grounds.

Ans:

India had always been the home of a vast variety of religions communities and sects; after independence, this multi-religious composition of the country remained unaltered. A sizeable numbers of Muslims opted to pin their fate and destiny with the rest of the country. Thus for this pluralism also, a secular state become essential.

Again there was the tragic assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. This tragedy shocked Hindus and non-Hindus alike and impressed upon all Indians that religion should be separated from religion to safeguard their hand won freedom. It was realized that, if this separatist was not effective communal divisiveness would lead the country to disaster. In the interests of a strong and prosperous nation internecine conflicts had to stop.

Thus India’s historical traditions, besides its immediate political exigencies, following independence supported the case for the Indian policy taki a secular direction. The constitution included several articles that have given in the Indian state a definite secular character, to quote Samiti. “Thus constitution of India is a basic law which clearly erects the structure of a secular state.

long as the provisions relating to religion retain their present form, it is difficult to envisage any rejection of secularism.”

In the Indian context, secularism is a some what restricted phenomenon limited only to the functioning of the Indian state. In India, secularism is neither conceived nor expected to interfere with the hold of religion in most sectors of life. Consequently religion on religiosity continue to exercise a powerful influence in the daily life of most, Indians.

Thus, God-men and miracle performers have large followings, faith in horoscope and astrologers remains strong; rath yatras and religious processions attracts crowds; media gives considerable coverage to religious events and also permits telecast of purely religious programmes.

The main problems in the path of secularism are as under

There is the vexed issue of the uniform civil code, which the founding father of our constitution wanted to apply to all citizens. A uniform civil code, was essential to help forget a national identity and thus bring about the integration of members of all religious communities into one bond of common citizenship. In the absence of such code, citizen so f this country would always remain divided, since they were all governed by their respective personal laws.

But in the last forty years, no progress has been made in the evolution of a uniform civil code.

Again our political activities are heavily laden with communal caste or other parochial considerations. Religious a caste divisiveness is exploited for political gains.

Thirdly, Hinduism, the religion of the vast majority is also a sort of a ‘national’ religion in the sense that it is confined to the boundaries of this country. As a result for most of the Hinduism gets identified with nationalism and culture.