Interesting Facts About The Indian Constitution

26th January 1950, the day a new democracy was born, the day India saw its constitution come to being, the day every Indian feels proud about, the day India became a republican nation. India is the largest democracy in the world and on the 26th of January 2016 the constitution of India, which has seen various amendments and changes been done over the years, will complete 66 years of democracy and sovereignty.

It may not be, in general, of interest for a traveler geek to know and understand about the constitutional nuances of India, but there are certain interesting facts about the constitution of India which are downright amazing, and a must know. On the eve of the 66th Republic Day of India, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts attached to the formation of the constitution of India:

  • The original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy. Each page was beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan. 
  • With 25 parts containing 448 articles and 12 schedules, the Indian Constitution is the longest written Constitution of any sovereign country in the world.  
  • The original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India.
  • When the draft was prepared and put for debate and discussion, over 2000 amendments were made, before it was finalised. 
  • The Constituent Assembly, which first met on December 9, 1946, took precisely 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to come up with the final draft. 
  • The handwritten Constitution was signed on 24th January, 1950, by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly, which included 15 women. It came into force two days later on 26th January. 
  • The drafting of the Constitution was finally complete on 26th November, 1949. But, it was legally enforced only after two months on 26th January, 1950. Which came to be known as the Republic Day.
  • Our Constitution makers took inspiration from various other Constitutions while drafting the one for our country, which is why the Indian Constitution is often called a bag of borrowings.
  • The concept of Five Year Plans (FYP) was taken from the USSR, and the Directive Principles (socio-economic rights) were taken from Ireland.
  • The Preamble to our Constitution was inspired by the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, which also starts with "We the people".
  • The Indian Constitution has also been hailed as one of the world's best Constitution because in 62 years of its adoption, it had been amended only 94 times. As of now, our Constitution has undergone a total of 100 amendments.  
  • The ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in our Preamble have been taken from the French Revolution, which is also the French motto. 
  • The fundamental rights recognized by our Constitution have also been adopted from the American Constitution. The Indian Constitution recognizes nine fundamental rights as the basic human rights of all its citizens.
  • Interestingly, in the beginning, the Right to Property was also one of the fundamental rights. The Article 31 of our constitution said that, "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law." However, the 44th Amendment, in 1978, deleted it.

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