International Journal of Political Science

 The directive principles enshrine the fundamentals for the realization of which the state in India stands. These principles place an ideal before the legislators of India while the frame the new legislation for the country’s administration. They lay down the code of conduct for the administrators of India while they discharge their responsibilities as agents of the sovereign power of the nation. The real importance of the directive principles is that contain the positive obligation of the state towards its citizens. Though no one can approach the court of Law for the implementation of the principles, they play on important role in the socio economic development of the nation. This paper analyses the nature of the directive principles and their importance in the nation building.

Keywords: Constitution; Social Justice; Welfare Nation; Democratic Government; Rule of Law.

 The United Nations Security Council, created in the post­war context, doesn’t actually reflect the changes that have occurred in the international system after the end of the cold war. In the past fifty years or so, the global order has been changed massively. The developing nations including India now play a larger role in both the international economy and politics. But these changes are not reflected in the United Nations, where all decisions are still being taken by the five permanent members of the Security Council who wield the veto power. The UN Security Council reform has been lingering since 1992. If the UN still shies away from reforming the Security Council, the possibility of the institution being sidelined by emerging powers cannot be ruled out. The present Council does not reflect contemporary power realities and should therefore be reformed to reflect the new realities of the 21st century.

Keywords: United Nations; Security Council; Veto Power; Permanent Member; Restructuring.

 The presence of minorities in all societies is an empirically established fact. It is observed that minorities face multiple threats in societies they live. These threats ranging from attempts at subjugation and exclusion to extermination or genocide entail theories and discourses for addressing the problems of minorities. It has been widely accepted today that minorities need special protection by the states they live in. The special protection may include effective constitutional and legal safeguards with institutional mechanism to monitor the enforcement of those safeguards. India is often described as confederation of minorities for having large number of minorities based on religion, language, culture and race etc. The Constitution of India recognizes minorities based on religion and language and provides constitutional and legal safeguards for the protection and promotion of their rights. This paper attempts to understand and critically examine the institutional mechanism and its role in monitoring the implementation of minority safeguards in India.

Keywords: Minorities; Religion; Educational Institutions; Discrimination.

 This paper deals with the role of the State, and itsre­emergence after globalization. The concept of governance has progressed right from ancient civilization and it has come a long way from the traditional rule. As there has been increasing expectation on the state to solve the problems of the people.The failure of the state to respond to the demand placed upon it has opened new forms of governance.The success of the development programmes depends on the partnership with the other sectors. It includes decentralisation of powers of the State that is a gradual transfer of powers [2]; public ­private partnerships.It has taken up the responsibility of a facilitator. It also increased the scope for use of technology for the ease of governance.

Keywords: Participation; Governance; Networks; Technology

 Hindu society is divided into four varnas which are again divided in many castes and sub castes. The occupation and status of a person in Hindu society and religion was traditionally determined by a person’s caste. Traditionally in Hindu society political power rested with the kshtriya or warrior class who were to be the kings or rulers or administrators or soldiers and brahamin priests who were to act as guide and ministers of the king. Vaisha or rich business people also had some share in governance but the lowest varna were denied participation. Even in the three varnas only elites were to enjoy political power. Common men and women were far away from any type of political participation. It was during national movement that common men and women started participating in political activities under the leadership of Gandhi and Congress or Ambedkar. After independence the constitution of India ensured adult franchise to all its citizens and affirmative action in form of reservation of seats in central and state legislatures to those belonging to traditionally lower castes i.e. schedule castes and scheduled tribes. This was to ensure that they are represented in the legislatures. As a result many men and women from these categories rose to the highest positions in the political system but the common masses remained far behind especially women because Indian society is patriarchal and women suffer additional disability of being lower in hierarchy than men. Present study is an attempt to understand the political and social awareness of kumhar (potter) women of a simple village in the state of Rajasthan in India.

Keywords: India; Rajasthan; Political Participation; Women; Kumhar; Potter.

 Gandhian ideas have universal appeal irrespective of time and place as they are based on certain eternal principles, which underline the core of evolution and organization of human social order. That is why ‘Debating Gandhi’ will continue to be relevant with the evolution of each stage of human order. The present Article also participates in this debate as it articulates arguments to analyze whether Gandhian Social order is utopian or realistic. Many critiques argue that Gandhian ideas are utopian as they cannot be put into practice. However, this paper argues that such critiques are not on the mark as they take a ‘transient’ view of reality, based on the immediate consequences. In fact, Gandhian social order is based on certain eternal principles grounded on the ‘ultimate reality’, which has lasting consequences. After all what is the ‘realistic’ way to resolve the contemporary challenges like mindless violence and conflicts around us or continuous and pervasive misuse of social resources to satisfy personal greed or other such challenges? Gandhi offers lasting solution to the ongoing challenges of mankind, whereas his critiques may beat around the bush and come out with short term and non­lasting solutions in the name of ‘realism’. In the way the article also highlights the relevance of Gandhian ideas to the contemporary global challenges.

Keywords: Gandhian Social Order; Eternal Principles; Ultimate Reality; Transient Realism; Contemporary Global Challenges.

 The Indian government had provided reservation of 33 percent seats in the local self governing bodies to women by 73rd and 74th Constitution amendment. Later the reservation was raised to 50 percent in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in some states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharastra, Orissa, Tripura and Kerala. However Haryana has yet to raise the reservation for women to 50 percent. Women who got elected due to reservation are often seen as puppets in the hands of their husbands and other male family members. For the common perception is that women have a decidedly marginalized and subordinate position in the traditional, conservative, patriarchal and caste ridden Indian society with rigid private female and public male role demarcation. In such a scenario women are seen as misfits in politics. This accusation is never made for men who enter politics due to reservation. The objective of this paper is to find out the actual position. Hence we made a comparative study of men and women elected in upper two tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Rohtak district of Haryana. Thus, all the 107 members of block committee and 14 members of district council were included in the study. The elected men and women representatives’ were asked questions pertaining to their background, views on women’s issues, politics, local self governing bodies etc to find out the difference or similarities between the views and performances of men and women elected representatives in a state which is known for its misogynistic attitudes.

Keywords: Women; Panchayti Raj Institutions; Rohtak; Haryana; India.

 Regional integration has become a widespread practice after the end of World War II. The intensification of globalization in 1990s and end of cold war imparted fresh momentum to regional integration. The European Union is the most successful example of regional integration. However, the integration theories like Neo­functionalism and Liberal Intergovernmentalism and others, based exclusively on European experience are inadequate to throw light on integration process in other regions like South Asia. In spite of institutionalized efforts in the form of establishment of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985, South Asia Continues to be the least integrated region of the world. The fundamental region for its failure is the lack of background consensus among regional actors on the core issues of peace and development. In comparison, European integration was driven by this consensus, brought about by the devastation of the World War II. This calls for an alternative approach for regional integration in South Asia. This may be termed as Bottom­Up Approach, which aims at adopting those strategies and practices like bilateral and sub­regional cooperative mechanisms, which may create and sustain the background consensus, a prerequisite for initiating regional integration process.

Keywords: Integration Process; Background Consensus; Bottom­Up Approach; Saarc.