Constitution Day also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas’, is annually observed across India on 26th November to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly of India on 26th November 1949.
The day also aims to promote constitutional values among the citizens of India.
26th November 2021 marks the 72nd anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India.
Background:
i.On 19th November 2015, The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified the decision of the Indian government to observe the 26th November of every year as ‘Constitution Day’.
ii.This announcement was made as a part of the year-long celebration of the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.
History:
i.On 9th December 1946, The Constituent Assembly of India met for the first time and Dr Sachchidananda Sinha was appointed as the first president of the Constituent Assembly.
ii.On 29 August 1947, under the chairmanship of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, a Drafting Committee was constituted to prepare a Draft Constitution.
iii.On 26th November 1949, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
iv.On 24th January 1950 the committee members signed the two handwritten copies of the document, one in Hindi and one in English.
v.The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950 which is commemorated as the Republic Day of India.
Facts on Constitution of India:
i.The constitution of India is the longest written constitution in the world, it took around 2years, 11 months, and 17 days to complete the Constitution.
ii.It had 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules at the time of its commencement.
iii.The Constitution of India was not typeset or printed but was handwritten and calligraphic in both English and Hindi. It had 90,000 words.
iv.It was entirely handcrafted by the artists of Shantiniketan under the guidance of Acharya Nandalal Bose, with the calligraphy texts done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in Delhi.
The Preamble to the Constitution of India:
i.The Preamble is a brief statement which records the aims and aspirations of the people of India.
ii.So far the preamble has been amended only once, On 18th December 1976, through the 42nd Amendment the words “socialist” and “secular” were added between the words “Sovereign” and “democratic” and the words “unity of the Nation” were changed to “unity and integrity of the Nation”.
Events: Constitution Day 2021:
i.The Constitution Day 2021 is celebrated at the central hall of the Parliament, as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
- Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, will preside over the event, in the presence of other dignitaries including Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
ii.The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs had developed 2 portals to make Constitution day as a public campaign,
- Online Reading of the Preamble to the Constitution – the preamble is available in 23 languages(English and 22 official languages) (https://www.mpa.gov.in/constitution-day/ )
- Online Quiz on Constitutional Democracy (https://quiz.mygov.in/quiz/constitution-quiz-2021-22/)
iii.On the occasion of Constitution Day, Kiren Rijiju, Union Ministry of Law & Justice, launched an online course on the subject of the Indian Constitution.
About Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs:
Union Minister-Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi(Constituency- Dharwad, Karnataka)
Minister of State– V. Muraleedharan (Rajya Sabha – Maharashtra ) & Arjun Ram Meghwal (Constituency- Bikaner, Rajasthan)