Constitution day – History and Unknown facts

Every year on November 26th, India celebrates Constitution Day (National Law Day), also known as Samvidhan Divas, to honor the adoption of the Constitution of India. On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into force on 26 January 1950 marking the beginning of the country as a republic.

Jammu and Kashmir will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India on November 26 for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 that ended the J&K Constitution that was in place since 1957.

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi made the declaration on 11 October 2015 while laying the foundation stone of the B. R. Ambedkar’s Statue of Equality memorial in Mumbai. The year of 2015 was the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who had chaired the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly and played a pivotal role in the drafting of the constitution. Previously this day was celebrated as Law Day.

What is Constitution of India in simple words?

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework demarcating fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens.

How many articles are in the Indian constitution 2019?

It consists of 395 articles and 12 schedules for total of 117369 words in its English version

Did You Know : Facts about Indian Constitution

• The Indian Constitution wasn’t printed, it was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada . In fact it’s the longest handwritten constitution of any country on earth.
• 432 pen-holder nibs were used throughout the process, and he used No. 303 nibs for this calligraphy.
• The original manuscript of the Constitution was written on parchment sheets measuring 16X22 inches which have a lifespan of a thousand years. The finished manuscript consisted of 251 pages and weighed 3.75 kg.
• The Constitution was signed on 24th January, 1950 by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly, which included 15 women.
• It was first signed by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, while the last to sign in was Feroze Gandhi, the president of the Constituent Assembly.
• Each member of the Constituent Assembly signed two copies of the constitution, one in Hindi and the other in English.
• When they were signing, it was raining heavily outside that was considered as a good sign.
• The constitution was published in Dehradun and photolithographed by the Survey of India. Production of the original constitution took nearly five years.
• The estimated cost of the Constituent Assembly was ?6.3 crore (?63 million). The constitution has had more than 100 amendments since it was enacted
• The original copies are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India.

Celebrations:

Constitution Day is not a public holiday. Various departments of the Government of India celebrated the first Constitution day. As per the Department of Education and Literacy, the preamble of the constitution was read in all schools by all students.

Babasaheb Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, presenting the final draft of the Indian constitution to Constituent Assembly president Rajendra Prasad on 25 November 1949

Timeline of formation of the Constitution of India

6 December 1946:

Formation of the Constitution Assembly (in accordance with French practice).

9 December 1946:

The first meeting was held in the constitution hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament House). The 1st person to address was J. B. Kripalani, Sachchidananda Sinha became temporary president. (Demanding a separate state, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting.)

11 December 1946:

The Assembly appointed Rajendra Prasad as its president, H. C. Mukherjee as its vice-chairman and B. N. Rau as constitutional legal adviser. (There were initially 389 members in total, which declined to 299 after partition. Out of the 389 members, 292 were from government provinces, 4 from chief commissioner provinces and 93 from princely states.)

13 December 1946:

An ‘Objective Resolution’ was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, laying down the underlying principles of the constitution. This later became the Preamble of the Constitution.

22 January 1947:

Objective resolution unanimously adopted.

22 July 1947:

National flag adopted.

15 August 1947:

Achieved independence. India split into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

29 August 1947:

Drafting Committee appointed with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as its Chairman. The other 6 members of committee were Munshi, Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Khaitan and Mitter.

16 July 1948: Along with Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, V. T. Krishnamachari was also elected as second vice-president of Constituent Assembly.

26 November 1949:

The Constitution of India was passed and adopted by the assembly.

24 January 1950:

Last meeting of Constituent Assembly. The Constitution was signed and accepted. (with 395 Articles, 8 Schedules, 22 Parts)

26 January 1950: The Constitution came into force. (The process took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days – at a total expenditure of ?6.4 million to finish.)

Now Constitution of India has 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. There are 103 amendments have been made in the Indian constitution so far.

Influence from other Countries constitutions

The Constitution of India has picked some of the best features from other constitutions of the world.

The chairman of drafting committee Dr. Ambedkar had said in this regard that – “As to the accusation that the Draft Constitution has reproduced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, I make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a Constitution….”

Sethu Ram

Hi there! I’m Sethu, your go-to guy for all things tech, travel, internet, movies, and business tips. I love sharing insights and stories that make life more interesting. Let’s explore the world together, one article at a time!