Constitution Day (or Samvidhan
Divas), also known as National Law Day, is celebrated in India on 26 November
every year to commemorate 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 effect on 26 January 1950.
Constitution Day
The Government of India declared
26 November as Constitution Day on 19 November 2015 by a gazette notification.
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. 26 November was chosen to spread the importance
of the constitution and to spread thoughts and ideas of Ambedkar.
Background
Since 2015 was the 125th birth
anniversary year of B. R. Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), who is
known as the father of the Indian constitution, the government decided in May
2015 to celebrate this year "in a big way". A special committee
chaired by Prime Minister of India was announced for year-long celebrations.
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. In addition, there were quiz and essay competitions both online and offline on the subject of the constitution of India. The Ministry of External Affairs directed all overseas Indian schools to celebrate 26 November as Constitution Day and directed embassies to translate the constitution into the local language of that nation and distribute it to various academies, libraries and faculties of Indology. The work of translating the Indian constitution into Arabic has been completed. Department of Sport arranged symbolic run named "Run for Equality".