Constitution Day: 26th November

• 27 Nov 2021

Why in News

The Ministry of Law & Justice has launched ‘Online Course on Indian Constitution’ on the eve of ‘Constitution Day’ as a part of celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ for 75 years of India’s Independence.

• The online course aims to enhance the awareness of the constitutional values to understand the fundamental rights and duties.
• It will also help the citizens familiarize with the glorious constitutional journey and to understand the supreme law of the land including the right to life, personal liberty and privacy issues.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • It is celebrated on 26^th November every year.
  • It is also known as National Law Day.
  • On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India that came into force on 26^th January 1950.
  • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19^th November 2015, notified the decision of the Government of India to celebrate 26 November as 'Constitution Day’.
• Framing of Constitution:
  • In 1934, M N Roy first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly.
  • Under the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946, elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly.
  • The Constitution of India is framed by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly of India appointed a total of 13 committees to deal with different tasks related to the framing of the constitution.
  • There were 8 major committees and the rest were minor ones. The list of major committees and their heads are mentioned below:
    • Drafting Committee – B. R. Ambedkar
    • Union Power Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
    • Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
    • Provincial Constitution Committee – Vallabhbhai Patel
    • Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Vallabhbhai Patel.
    • Rules of Procedure Committee – Rajendra Prasad
    • States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru
    • Steering Committee – Rajendra Prasad
• Facts about the Constitution of India:
  • World's lengthiest Constitution.
  • Federal System with Unitary Features.
  • Parliamentary Form of Government.
  • The framing of the Constitution took over 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.
  • The original copies of the Indian Constitution weren’t typed or printed. They have been handwritten and are now kept in a helium-filled case within the library of the Parliament.
  • Prem Bihari Narain Raizada had written the unique copies of the Structure of India.
  • Originally, the Constitution of India was written in English and Hindi.
  • The basic structure of the Indian Constitution stands on the Government of India Act, 1935.
  • The Constitution of India has also borrowed some of its features from a number of countries.

Further Reading

• Preamble to the Indian Constitution
• Important Articles from Indian Constitution (Part I and II)
• Fundamental Rights (Part-I and II)
• Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)
• Parliament (Part-I, II and III)
• Major Constitutional Amendments (Part-I, II and III)
• Emergency Provisions

Source: PIB