Constitution Day of India: What Makes 26th November an Ineffable Day?
By: Ashwathy Nair
Today, on 26th November, the day is celebrated in India as Constitution Day or Samvidhan Diwas. Also, the day is known as National Law Day. This day is honoured for the adoption of the Constitution of India.
In the year 1949, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India and 26th January 1950 was the day when it came into force.
Earlier, the day was celebrated as Law Day, which honoured the pledge of Purna Swaraj that was passed in the Lahore session of the Congress in the year 1930.
There are over 90,000 words in the Constitution, it is a result of the effort that was laid by the Constituent Assembly’s 271 men and women who worked directly to create it. On January 26, 1950, after 284 representatives put their signatures on it, the Constitution went into full force. January 26th was the day that was chosen to bring the constitution into force, as it was the date announced at a session of the Indian National Congress in the year 1930 as the Poorna Swaraj day.
History
After the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 26th November, the Government of India decided to celebrate this day as ‘Constitution Day’ after it was being notified on 19 November 2015 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The day is celebrated in order to encourage citizens about the Constitution values.
Between the adoption and enforcement, the two months was used for reading and translating the document from English to Hindi.
The Constituent Assembly was met for two years for 166 days, 11 months, and 18 days before the Constitution was fully ratified.
The significance of the Constitution Day is that it is a day that is honoured and celebrated as a mark of tribute to India’s first Law Minister BR Ambedkar, the man who was behind playing an essential role in drafting the Indian Constitution.
The Constitution of India declares India as an independent, secular, socialist and democratic republic as well as it ensures equality, democracy and justice for its people.