My Republic Day 2023 wish.

Here’s what I’d want for the Indian Republic Day: Have a separate compulsory Civics paper for 100 marks.

Of these, 65 must be on the Indian Constitution, the Preamble, rights & duties, the various Articles and Amendments, similar documents from across the world, and the Constituent Assembly. You can also include the IPC and some landmark judgments (Champakam Dorairajan, Golaknath, Kesavananda Bharati, Three Judges, Minerva Mills, S R Bommai, for example) for 5 marks out of the 65.

20 must be on the pillars of democracy, viz., legislature, judiciary, executive, and media. It must include elections, the FPTP system, the police, the paramilitary (CISF, Coast Guard, BSF), CBI, ED, the three arms of the Indian defence forces, NCC, TA, the justice system, the judicial process, the courts, the press, and social media.

5 marks should be for the importance of dissent, freedom of expression & faith, and the significance of checks & balances as well as a strong opposition.

5 marks should be given for the various arms of democracy: the administrative & foreign services, Election Commission, RBI, SEBI, the various tax collection agencies, CAG, the office of the President, PSUs of strategic importance, and so on.

2 marks for naming the various office bearers of the nation, like the PM, CMs, President, VP, Governors & Lt Governors, Union Ministers & their portfolios, state ministers for the one state in which the student is being examined, opposition leaders & office bearers of both, Lok & Rajya Sabhas as well as both the state-level houses of the state in which the student is being examined, chief justices of both SC and the HC where the student is being examined, the Election Commissioner, the CDS and three chiefs of the armed forces, and the editors of major newspapers and news networks.

2 marks for naming national political parties and their office bearers, recognising their symbols, and being able to write the differences between their ideologies, histories, and the various eminent personalities they gave the nation.

The last 1-mark question should be on symbols like the national flag, emblem, anthem, song, oath, and motto.

This alone, given a couple of generations of education, should go a long way in creating a better India eventually. We’ll be long dead by then. But at least our great-grandchildren might get to live in a better nation.