Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas is celebrated in India on November 26, the day when the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.
After India became an Independent nation, the Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a committee chaired by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was the President of the Constituent Assembly.
In the beginning of 1948, Dr. Ambedkar completed the draft of the Indian Constitution and presented it in the Constituent Assembly. On November 26, 1949, this draft was adopted with very few amendments.
The Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.
The Preamble of the Constitution declares India as a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic and aims to secure justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation. Here is the complete text:
"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION".
Preamble to the Constitution of India (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Here are some interesting and lesser known facts about the Constitution of India that students can use in their Constitution Day speech and essay:
The Constitution of India has borrowed features from other countries, including Britain, Ireland, Japan, USA, South Africa, Germany, Australia, and Canada.
The Constituent Assembly of India was established in 1946. It met for 166 days spread over 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.
The Constitution of India is a hand-written document. It is one of the longest hand-written documents in the world. There are a total of 1,17,369 words in the English version.
Initially, the word “socialist” was not a part of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. During the emergency, by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, the word was added. This is the only amendment to the Preamble so far.
The basic structure of the Indian Constitution stands on the Government of India Act, 1935.
The original hand-written copies of the Constitution are preserved in helium-filled cases in the Library of Parliament House.
On November 26, 1949, the Constituent assembly met and with loud and prolonged cheers and thumping of desks greeted the passing of the Constitution.
"Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly, in his speech before putting the motion to pass the Constitution, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and said that I shall only hope that all those whose good fortune it may be to work this Constitution in future, will remember that it was a unique victory which we achieved by unique method taught by the Father of the Nation, and it is upto us to preserve and protect the Independence that we have won and to make it really bear fruit for the man in the street," wrote Sailen Chatterjee, journalist and freedom fighter.
After the Constitution was passed, the historic session of the Constituent Assembly ended with the singing of the National Anthem "Jana-gana-mana adhinayaka Jai Hey, Bharat Bhagya Vidhata," by Purnima Banerjee, a veteran freedom fighter, According to Mr Chatterjee.
Later, in accordance with the Constitution, the assembly elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of the Indian Republic at a special session on January 24, 1950.
