Public Affairs and Governance

In a democratic country, the administration not only operates under the political direction but also works within the ambit of relevant constitutional provisions. Thus the administration in any democratic country is also under obligation to fulfill and implement the noble ideals enshrined in the constitution and Indian administration is no exception to this. Theoretically, both kinds of executive i.e. political and permanent are jointly responsible for attainment of constitutional values and goals enshrined therein. Having the professional character, the latter is obliged to respect rule of law. To discharge its duties without fear and favour, the administration is to be both adequately trained and institutionally protected so that it may play a vital role to uphold the constitution and the rule of law. In the present study an attempt has been made to probe how the administration has fared in upholding the core values and the basic features of the Constitution of India. And for the purpose, performance of Indian administration may be analyzed in terms of realization and upholding the core values as enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution along with the ‘basic features' as enunciated by the Supreme Court. However, in view of resource limitations, only three of them, viz., Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, Scientific Temper and Democratic Decentralization, have been selected for deeper probe.