New Delhi, July 25: The Central Government has reiterated that there is no plan or intention to remove the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal made this clarification in Parliament on Thursday, responding to concerns raised over attempts by certain organisations to generate public discourse around removing the two terms.
Replying to a query by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman, Meghwal confirmed that the government has neither initiated any legal process nor made any formal proposal to amend or delete the terms from the Preamble. He emphasized that public debates on the issue do not reflect the government’s stance.
“The government’s official position is clear — there is no current plan to reconsider or remove these words,” Meghwal stated in his written reply, adding that any changes to the Preamble would require extensive deliberation and broad consensus, which has not been pursued.
The Law Minister also cited the Supreme Court’s November 2024 judgment, which rejected petitions challenging the inclusion of the words “socialist” and “secular” through the 42nd Amendment, passed during the Emergency in 1976. The court upheld that these principles are integral to the basic structure of the Constitution and widely accepted by the people of India.
The apex court noted that secularism is intrinsically linked to the right to equality, while socialism in the Indian context reflects the state’s commitment to economic and social justice without infringing on individual freedoms, including private entrepreneurship under Article 19(1)(g).
Despite the 44th Constitutional Amendment in 1978 aiming to roll back certain Emergency-era changes, it notably left the words “socialist” and “secular” untouched — further underlining their constitutional permanence.
