Every nation in the world gets its frame of proper and peaceful working from its constitution. India too gets its rules and regulation for the proper functioning of the Government. To pay collective respect to its constitution, the entire nation observes Constitution Day on the 26th of November every year. The Constitution Day of India is also observed as the National Constitution Day to mark that it is a day associated with the Constitution of India.
Since the Constitution of India provides rules, regulations, rights, and duties to every citizen of the nation, people from every state and Union Territory of India observe the occasion from the zeal and share the feeling of brotherhood.
National Constitution Day 2022
Constitution Day in the year 2022 is falling on 26th of November, Saturday. It would be the 8th observation of such a historically important event for India. The preparation for this important event has already been started by the people of different places and also different communities. We have seen the previous year’s observations which took on a grand level, so it is obvious to expect a grand celebration for this year as well.
History
The Constitution of India is a set of rules and regulations for the Government and individuals to work with their power and responsibilities.
Before the Independence of India, its princely states had their separate rules and laws, which separated one part of the nation from the other. Apart from this, our country needed such a constitution in which could prescribe the basic rights, duties of the people living in the country so that it could progress faster and achieve complete sovereignty. The Constituent of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 that came into effect from 26 January 1950.
In memory of adopting the constitution of India, the entire nation observes the National Constitution Day on 26 November every year with a new spirit.
It was the 14th Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi who declared on 11 October 2015 for the day to be observed as the National Constitution Day in the whole nation. Since then, the event is being celebrated every year in respect of the Constitution of India.
Activities/Celebration
Constitution Day is such a great day when we get an opportunity to learn more about our Constitution and its properties. Many programs are organized on this day by the government and private institutions. The most important work that is done on the National Constitution Day is to inform the people about the “Preamble to the Constitution of India”, about which people in schools, colleges, and offices across the country are explained in very easy language.
Along with this, many types of Question and Answer competitions, speech and essay competitions are organized in many educational institutions which focus on the Constitution of India and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. Along with this, many lectures and seminars are also organized on this day, in which people discuss important topics of our Constitution and explain it to others. Similarly, debate competitions are also organized for students in many schools. These debates are mainly for the students to learn and know a lot about their constitution.
On the 26th of November every year, a special session of the Constituent Assembly is held, in which we pay tribute to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar for his significant contribution to the constitution of the country. Similarly, on this day special decoration is done at the memorial of Dr. Ambedkar. Along with this, many marathons are organized by the Ministry of Sports to pay tribute to our country’s constitution maker and beloved Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Objectives and Significance
Constitution Day of India is the day when the Constituent Assembly of India had accepted the constitution, so it is an important day in the history of the country. Not only for this, but it is also a day to remember Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly. The Indian Constitution is the longest written constitution of a sovereign country.
By celebrating the National Constitution Day, we make people aware of the constitution of India, which defines our nation and its cultures in many ways. Knowing about our Constitution is very important as it includes our rights and duties, and the programmes organized on the day do it for us in a more simple way.
Facts about Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India was adopted by the constituent assembly to run the economy of the nation smoothly and safely. There are many features that the Constitution of India has. Some of them are listed below:
- The Constitution of India is currently the longest written constitution of any nation in the world.
- It was originally written in Hindi and English languages.
- It had taken two years eleven months and eighteen days for the constitution of India to be completed.
- The constitution of India comprises 448 articles in 25 parts with 12 schedules and 115 amendments.
- Prem Bihari Narayan Raizada had written the Constitution of India by his hands.
- Beohar Rammanohar Sinha and Nandalal Bose had designed each and every page of the Constitution of India.
- According to the Constitution of India, India a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, and the Democratic Republic.
- Many features of the Indian Constitution are borrowed from the constitutions of other countries like the USA, the USSR, Germany, and others.
- The original written constitution is still preserved in a specially protected case.
- The drafted constitution had gone through nearly 2000 amendments before adopting it.
- The preamble of the Constitution of India has been inspired by the preamble of the United States of America.
- Single Citizenship is the primary property of the Constitution of India.
- ‘Right to Constitutional Remedies’, under article 32, is called the ‘Soul of the Constitution of India’.
- The Constitution of India adopted national emblem on 26 January 1950.
72 Years of the Indian Constitution
As we all know that the Constitution of India came into force from 26 January 1950, it has completed 72 years on 26 January 2022. During this period, the constitution has gone through many amendments as per the need of the time and situation.
The Constitution of India has gone through 104 amendments by July 2020. Though there have been several changes in the constitution before its enactment, the first amendment after enforcement was done on 10 May 1951. There were made many changes in some parts of the constitution. Since then, it was amended many times.
The second amendment was made on 1 May 1953. Through this amendment, the government had removed the upper limit of the population in the parliamentary constituency. It was an important amendment made very soon after the first amendment.
The last amendment in the Constitution of India till the date has been made recently on 25 January 2020. Through this amendment, the Government of India has increased the reservation for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and other State Assemblies.
The 61st amendment reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 and made a large population to cast their vote. Through the 44th amendment in the constitution, the Government has removed the ‘Right to Property’ from the list of Fundamental Rights. The introduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax) was made through the 101st amendment in the Indian Constitution. Recently on 5 August 2019, the Government of India has revoked the article 370 from the Constitution of India, which granted a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
These are some important changes made in the Constitution of India.
Conclusion
The National Constitution Day, which is also known as the ‘Samvidhan Diwas’, is a very important event for the people of India. The participation of people of every religion, community, caste, and creed is important in its observation to make it successful. We should also try our level best to spread as much information about our constitution as possible so that everyone can benefit from it.