When is Constitution Day of India celebrated?
People observe Constitution Day or ‘Samvidhan Diwas’ every year on the 26th of November. It commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of India. On November 26, 1949, the government adopted the Constitution and it came into effect on January 26, 1950.
History of Constitution Day of India
In 2015, the Union ministry of social justice notified the decision of the Centre to celebrate November 26 as Constitution Day to promote constitutional values among citizens, according to a government website.
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar became the first law minister of India in the Congress-led Centre. People appointed him as the chairman of the constitution drafting committee in 1947. He also took the responsibility of writing the country’s new constitution.
American historian Granville Seward Austin has described the Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as ‘first and foremost a social document’.
How is the parliament celebrating this day?
Parliament observed this day on Friday, that is, today and President Ram Nath Kovind led the celebrations from the Central Hall from 11 am onwards. President Kovind, vice president M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla addressed the event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took part in the celebrations in Parliament and Vigyan Bhawan. Later in the day, PM Modi inaugurated the two-day Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court, at 5:30 pm in Vigyan Bhawan.
What did Congress do on this day?
A delegation of 13 opposition parties led by Congress skipped the celebrations of this day in Parliament on Friday.
The opposition parties actually skipped the event to protest what they have said is the Centre’s disrespect towards them. They also protested its refusal to their demands and hastened the passage of bills in Parliament. The Hindustan Times reported this on Thursday, the previous day.
Top quotes of the Prime Minister on the occasion of Constitution Day
- Our constitution is not just a collection of many articles, it is the great tradition of millennia. What if it landed on us to write the Constitution today! Could we have written even one page of the Constitution!
- When a political party loses its own democratic character, how can it protect democracy?
- Today, look at every corner of India. The country is moving towards a crisis that should worry every individual who respects the Constitution and that comes from dynastic parties.
- A party run by one family, generation after generation, the family controlling every aspect of the party, is the biggest threat to a healthy democracy. If more than one person from a family enters politics based on merit and blessings, then that is not dynastic politics.
- I remember when I was addressing the House in 2015 on BR Ambedkar’s 125th anniversary and made this announcement of observing November 26 as this day, even then there was resistance. Where did you bring November 26 from? Why are you doing this, what was the need? This country is not ready to listen to such things where Ambedkar’s name is attached. And even now, to not commemorate this occasion it is a matter of concern,”
- Due to the colonial mindset, obstacles are put in the development of our own country, including in name of freedom of expression. The colonial mindset created roadblocks on the path of growth of developing nations.
