Previous Year Question

The correct answer is the 42nd Constitutional Amendment. The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 amended the Preamble. It substituted “Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic” for “Sovereign Democratic Republic”. Thus, the words Socialist and Secular were added to the Preamble through this Amendment.

The same Amendment also changed “unity of the Nation” to “unity and integrity of the Nation”. Thus, the impact of the 42nd Amendment on the Preamble was not confined to “Secular”; it also introduced Socialist and Integrity into its text.

The Act was enacted on 18 December 1976, while the amendment relating to the Preamble took effect from 3 January 1977. In the original Preamble adopted on 26 November 1949, India was described as a Sovereign Democratic Republic; the words “Socialist” and “Secular” were not present in the original text.

For examination purposes, remember the direct fact—42nd Amendment, 1976 → Socialist + Secular + Integrity.