India celebrated the nation's 75 Samvidhan Divas (Constitution Day) on Wednesday, 26 November. This day is observed every year to honour the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1949. Later, it came into effect on 26 January 1950, which is celebrated as the Republic Day in India.
On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a letter where he expressed, "It is the power of our Constitution that enabled a person like me, coming from a humble and economically disadvantaged family, to serve as the Head of the Government continuously for over 24 years."
He also went on recalling his first time to the Parliament, "I came to Parliament for the first time and bowed, touching the steps of the greatest temple of democracy." The Prime Minister highlighted how the Constitution has given several others like him the power to dream and the strength to work towards it.
Long before the nation's independence, the blueprint of a great nation started becoming reality. In 1928 that the All Parties Conference gathered in Lucknow with the proposal to set up a committee for outlining the most important document for the nation.
The history behind the Constitution of India
By 1946, after Independence, the Constituent Assembly, elected by members of the provincial assemblies tasked with the most crucial exercises in nation-building.
The Assembly originally had 389 members, later reduced to 299 after the Partition. Over the next three years, they worked with almost relentless discipline, meeting across eleven sessions and spending 165 days debating, drafting, and redrafting.
Finally, on 26 November 1949, the longest written, most detailed Constitution in the world, consisting of a Preamble, 22 parts with 448 articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices, and 106 amendments, was born.
Where is this supreme legal document of India today?
Currently, the original Constitution of India is safely preserved at the Parliament Library Building in New Delhi. The first-ever Constitution was written by hand and later on, it was decorated by artists of Shantiniketan, making it a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. The document is kept inside a nitrogen-filled chamber that maintains the humidity and keeps it safe from becoming weak, as the pages and the ink used in the process can become oxidised if kept in the open.
The vacuum-sealed chamber is maintained with almost scientific precision, where the humidity is held steady at around 50 grams per cubic meter, and the nitrogen-sealed, airtight case contains less than 1 per cent oxygen, according to a NDTV report.
