Constitution Day today

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

India celebrates Constitution Day every year on November 26, as it marks the day when the Indian Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The Union Government had in 2015 decided to establish November 26 as the Constitution Day to advance “constitutional values among residents”.

It was declared in the year 2015 as it marked the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution. After India gained independence from British rule, the Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the constitution to a committee headed by Dr BR Ambedkar. Dr Rajendra Prasad was the president of the Constituent Assembly, which was established in 1946.

In the beginning of 1948, Ambedkar completed the draft of the Indian Constitution and presented it to the assembly. On November 26, 1949, the draft was adopted after several amendments. It came into effect on January 26, 1950 which is observed as the Republic day. It took the assembly close to three years to complete the most historic task of drafting the rule of law for independent India.

It is one of the largest constitutions in the world with over 1,17,360 words in the English version. The Preamble of the Constitution declares India as a country that is sovereign, socialist and secular aiming to secure justice, liberty, equality for all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain the unity of the nation.