Kollam is India’s first Constitution literate district

Kollam is India’s first Constitution literate district

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitutional Framework

Concept:

• Kollam will be officially declared India’s first Constitution literate district by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the authorities say the constitution literacy campaign will continue even after that.

The Citizen Constitution Literacy campaign

• The campaign is launched to educate the residents of the Kollam district of Kerela about the basics of constitution.
• It aims to make Kollam district a constitutionally literate district.
• Over seven lakh families in the district will be educated on the basic principles of the Constitution as part of The Citizen Constitution Literacy Campaign.
• The campaign is jointly organised by the Kollam district panchayat, District Planning Committee, and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA).
• The first of its kind initiative in the State, the target is to declare Kollam a totally Constitution literate district.
• Though the document clearly defines the rights and responsibilities of each citizen, very few are clearly aware of it even after 72 years.
• As part of the campaign, the entire population of Kollam above the age of 10 is briefed on the preamble of the Constitution and the historical background of the document, its basic principles, fundamental rights of citizens, and legal remedies.
• Around 20 to 25 individuals from each municipality and 10 to 15 persons from each grama panchayat is selected for training and they are called as senators.
• Squads of trained senators is formed and they offer two to three sessions for each family.
• Special handbooks for the students is prepared and distributed through educational institutions.

Constitution Literacy

• A sound understanding of the Constitution and how it simultaneously defines and limits our government in order to establish a nation in which our rights are protected.
• Constitutional Literacy simply put means knowledge and education on and about the Constitution and the laws set in place for citizens of a nation.

What is a Constitution?

A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. It is the document or set of documents that has a set of rules and principles which as the basis of society is accepted by all. It reflects the ideals of a society shared by all and defines nature of social, legal and political system in a “STATE”.