75th anniversary OF ‘SAMVIDHAN DIWAS’

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Constitution Day program at the Supreme Court in New Delhi on 26 November 2024. The Chief Justice of India, Shri Sanjiv Khanna, Judges of the Supreme Court Shri Justice B.R. Gavai and Shri Justice Suryakant, Minister for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Attorney General of India and other dignitaries were present at the event.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Modi greeted all the dignitaries, the delegates and the citizens on the occasion of Constitution day. He remarked that it was a matter of immense pride of the 75th year of Indian Constitution. He paid tributes to the members of the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution on the occasion.

The Prime Minister remarked that today when we were celebrating the Constitution Day, it cannot be forgotten that today was the anniversary of Mumbai Terror attacks as well. He paid tribute to the victims of the terror attack. Shri Modi reiterated that India will give a befitting reply to every terror organization which threatens the security and integrity of India.

Constitution is not a mere Lawyer’s document

Recalling the elaborate debates and discussions of the Constituent Assembly regarding the Constitution of India, Shri Modi quoted Babasaheb Ambedkar and said: “Constitution is not a mere Lawyer’s document, it is a spirit, it’s always the spirit of age”. Adding that this spirit was imperative, Shri Modi said the framers of the Constitution had provided us with the liberty to interpret the Constitution from time to time by taking appropriate decisions according to the country, time and situation. He added that the makers of the Constitution were well aware that the dreams and aspirations of India will scale new heights with time and the needs of the people of Independent India will also evolve along with the challenges. Therefore, he said, the constitution makers did not make the Constitution as a mere document, but a living, continuously flowing stream.

Our Constitution is a guide

“Our Constitution is a guide to our present and our future”, exclaimed Shri Modi and added that the Constitution had shown the right path to tackle the various challenges that have cropped up in the last 75 years of its existence. He further noted that the Constitution even encountered the dangerous times of Emergency faced by Indian Democracy. The Prime Minister underscored that the Constitution had met every need and expectation of the Country. He added that, through the power granted by the Constitution, Baba Saheb’s Constitution has now been fully implemented in Jammu and Kashmir as well. He further added that today for the first time the Constitution Day was celebrated in J&K.

India going through an important phase of change

Highlighting that India was going through an important phase of change, the Prime Minister said that the Constitution was showing us the right path as a guiding light. Emphasizing that now the path of India’s future was of achieving big dreams and big resolutions, Shri Modi remarked that today the goal of every citizen was to build a Viksit Bharat. Explaining further, he said that a Developed India meant a place where each and every citizen was ensured of getting a quality of life and dignity of life. This, he said, was a great medium of ensuring Social Justice and was the spirit of the Constitution as well. Therefore, the Prime Minister stressed, many steps were undertaken to ensure socio-economic justice in the past few years like opening more than 53 crore bank accounts of the people, in the last decade, who did not have access to the banks. He added that in the past decade, four crore people were ensured of pucca houses, 10 crore gas cylinder connections were given to women of the household.

Shri Modi underscored that there were only 3 crore houses in India which had household tap connections even after 75 years of Independence. He added that the central Government had given more than 12 crore household tap water connections in the last 5-6 years which had eased the living of citizens and women in particular.

Original copy of the Indian Constitution had pictures of Lord Ram

Shri Modi remarked that the Original copy of the Indian Constitution had pictures of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Lord Hanuman, Bhagwan Buddha, Bhagwan Mahavira and Guru Govind Singh. He added that these symbols of Indian culture were given place in the Constitution to ensure that it constantly keeps us aware and mindful of human values. “Human Values are the basis of today’s Indian policies and decisions”, exclaimed the Prime Minister. He added that the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita was enforced to ensure speedy delivery of justice to the citizens. He further said that the punishment based system has now changed to a justice based system. The Prime Minister stressed that the historic Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced to increase the political participation of women. He added that steps were undertaken to ensure the identity and rights of the third gender people and facilities to ease the living of Divyang people.

“Humara Samvidhan, Humara Swabhimaan”

India commemorated a historic milestone on the 26th November, 2024, marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India. On November 26, 1949, the Indian Constituent Assembly formally adopted the Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, establishing India as a sovereign, democratic republic. In 2015, the Government of India formally declared November 26 as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas) to honor the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1949. Since then, each year on this day, the nation celebrates the Constitution’s adoption.

The 75 year commemorative celebrations will be year-long and the activities would be centered around the four pillars: viz. Preamble of the Constitution, Know Your Constitution, Making of the Constitution and Celebrating the Glory of the Constitution.The main function of the commemoration events was held on 26th November, 2024 in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan.

The President of India along with Vice- President, Prime Minister, Speaker, Ministers, MPs and other dignitaries, attended the celebrations of the Constitution Day, 2024 in Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan.

Addressing on the occassion, the President of India said that our Constitution is a living and progressive document through which India has achieved the goals of social justice and inclusive development.

She further stated, “We have achieved many ambitious goals related to social justice and inclusive development through the Constitution. With a new approach, we are earning for India a new identity in the comity of nations. Our Constitution-makers had given a Directive for India to play an important role in promotion of international peace and security. Today, besides being a leading economy, our country is playing this role very well as the ‘Vishwa-Bandhu’.”