Constitution day

Constitution day

Subject: Polity

Constitution Day also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas’, is celebrated in our country on 26^th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect on January 26, 1950.

Here are a few interesting facts about the Constitution of India:

• People of India are the ultimate custodians of the Constitution. It is in them that sovereignty vests and it is in their name that the Constitution was adopted.
• Over 53,000 citizens sat in the visitors’ gallery of the Constituent Assembly over a period close to three years and watched the debates held during the drafting of the Constitution.
• It is the world’s lengthiest written Constitution which had 395 Articles, 22 Parts and 8 Schedules at the time of its commencement.
• The Constitution of India was not typeset or printed but was handwritten and calligraphic in both English and Hindi. It had 90,000 words.
• 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.
• Each part of the Constitution begins with a depiction of a phase or scene from India’s national history. At the beginning of each part of the Constitution, Nandalal Bose has depicted a phase or scene from India’s national experience and history.
• The artwork and illustrations (22 in all), rendered largely in the miniature style, represent vignettes from the different periods of history of the Indian subcontinent, ranging from Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley, the Vedic period, the Gupta and Maurya empires and the Mughal era to the national freedom movement.
• 284 members of the Constituent Assembly signed the Indian Constitution at the Constitution Hall of Parliament in New Delhi on January 24, 1950.
• On 24th January, 1950, the Constituent Assembly met for the last time. It was during this sitting that Dr Rajendra Prasad’s name was announced as the first President of India.
• There were 15 women members in the Constituent Assembly. They included Sarojini Naidu, RajkumariAmritKaur, HansabenJivraj Mehta, SuchetaKripalani and G. Durgabai, who spoke of equal rights for one and all, when women in many parts of the world were denied basic rights.
• The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during the meeting of Constituent Assembly held on July 22, 1947, a few days before India’s Independence from the British on August 15, 1947.
• The Constitution came into force on Januray 26, 1950. G.V. Mavlankar was the first Speaker of the LokSabha after India turned into a Republic.