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Constitution Day: 26th November

Posted on November 26, 2021 by admin1  605

In Context

  • 26th November is being celebrated as Constitution Day to mark the adoption of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly.

Constitution Day

About:

  • Constitution Day is also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas’.
  • It is celebrated in the country on 26th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. 
    • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19th November 2015 notified the decision of the Government of India to celebrate the 26th day of November every year as ‘Constitution Day’ to promote Constitution values among citizens.
  • Historical Background:
    • The Constituent Assembly, which was the body meant to draft the Constitution, conducted its first session on 9 December 1946. 
      • The demand of the Constituent Assembly was made in 1934.
        • M.N. Roy, a communist party leader, introduced the idea. 
      • It was taken up by the Congress party and finally, in 1940, the demand was accepted by the British government.
      • Before independence, the Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946. 
        • Dr Sachchidananda Sinha was appointed as the first president of the Constituent Assembly. 
      • The Constituent Assembly took two years, eleven months and seventeen days to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India. 
        • During this period, it held eleven sessions covering a total of 165 days. 
          • Of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration of the Draft Constitution.
      • Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister, moved the “Objectives Resolution” on 13 December 1946, which was later adopted as the Preamble on January 22, 1947.
      • On 29 August 1947, a Drafting Committee was constituted to prepare a Draft Constitution with Dr B.R. Ambedkar as the Chairman.
      • On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect from 26th January 1950.
  • Significance of the day:
    • The day aims to bring awareness to the importance of the Indian Constitution as well as its main architect, Dr B R Ambedkar.

Indian Constitution

  • It is the longest written constitution in the world.
    • The Constitution of India, with its preamble and 470 articles grouped into 25 parts and 12 schedules
  • The Constitution of India was not typeset or printed but was handwritten and calligraphic in both English and Hindi. 
  • 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 original copies of the Constitution of India are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India
  • The Fundamental Duties of citizens were added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, upon the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee that was constituted by the Government. 
  • Key Features: 
    • Longest written constitution
    • Federalism
    • Parliamentary Form of Government
    • Separation of Powers
    • Fundamental Rights
    • Secularism
    • Single Citizenship
    • Sovereignty
  • Key Amendments Made:
    • 1st CAA: Added Ninth Schedule laws that cannot be challenged in courts.
    • 42nd CAA: Inserted Article 51-A (10 FDs), Socialist, Secular and Integrity added to the Preamble, & new DPSPs added (Article 39, 39A, 43 A, 48A)

About Dr BR Ambedkar

  • Birth: 
    • In a Dalit (Hindu Mahar) family on 14th April 1891 in a small town at Mhow Cantt in erstwhile Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh).
  • About:
    • Often termed as the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution, he always worked for the welfare of the poor, Dalits and deprived sections.
    • He was a social reformer, jurist, economist, author, scholar and thinker.
    • He envisioned a better and just society and fought for it throughout his life and wanted to create a modern India where there would be no prejudice based on caste or any other reason, where women and communities subjected to backwardness for centuries would enjoy equity of economic and social rights.
    • He considered the Right to Constitutional Remedy (Article 32)  as the soul of the constitution.
  • Major Contributions:
    • 1920: Started a fortnightly newspaper, the ‘Mooknayak’ (Dumb Hero), with the support of Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur.
    • 1924: Founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha also known as Outcastes Welfare Association, with an aim to spread education and awareness among the Dalits.
    • 1927: Led the Mahad Satyagraha in Maharashtra to challenge the regressive customs of the Hindu.
    • 1929: Decided to cooperate with the British Simon Commission, which drew sharp criticism from Congress.
    • 1930: Started Kalaram Satyagraha in Nashik, which was a temple entry movement for the untouchables.
    •  1932: He, on behalf of the untouchables, signed the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi, who was representing Congress.
      • The pact provided the provisions for reserved seats for the depressed class instead of a separate electorate in the regional legislative assemblies and Central Council of States.
      • He participated in all the three Round Table Conferences in 1930, 1931 and 1932, voicing for untouchables and the depressed class.
    • 1936: Formed the Independent Labor Party, which was later transformed into the Scheduled Castes Federation.
    • 1937: Contested for the Central Legislative Assembly from Bombay.
    • 1939: During the Second World War, he called upon Indians to join the Army in large numbers to defeat Nazism, which in his opinion, was another form of Fascism.
    • 1942-46: Worked as Minister of Labour in the Viceroy’s Executive Council.
    • 1947: Worked as the first Law Minister of India in Jawahar Lal Nehru’s cabinet and was also made the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constitution.
    • 1955: Founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha.
    • 1956: Embraced Buddhism along with many of his followers in a public ceremony in Nagpur.
  • Major Literary Works:
    • The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables?
    • Who were the Shudra?
    • Mr Gandhi and the Emancipation of the Untouchables
    • Annihilation of Caste
    • Pakistan or the Partition of India
    • The Buddha and His Dhamma
    • What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables
  • Death: 
    • In New Delhi on 6th December 1956.
    • In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna (highest civilian honour of India).

Source: PIB

 
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