Page 23 - NIS English 2021 November 16-31

There are several important dates in India's journey from Independence

to Republic that will always be remembered as milestones. 26th January
1950 is one such date when India was declared a Sovereign Democratic
Republic. However, there were several other important moments which
were an important part of this historical journey, but were consigned to

oblivion. One such date is 26th November 1949, when our Constitution
was adopted after 2 years 11 months and 18 days of hard work. The true
significance of 26th January lies in 26th November itself. The importance
of this historic day was recognized in 2015, when for the first time

the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi started celebrating
Constitution Day every year on 26th November. In the ongoing series of
Amrit Mahotsav, we delve into the lives of some important women in the
Constituent Assembly of India whose tireless efforts led to the birth of the

Indian Constitution.

nderlining the importance of the Constitution, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in his speech to the Lok 15 WOMEN WHO
USabha on 26th November 2015, remarked, “For CONTRIBUTED IN
the government, the only dharma is ‘India first’, the only MAKING THE INDIAN
dharma granth (holy book) is the Constitution. The country CONSTITUTION:
will run by the Constitution and it should be run only by
the Constitution. India has fundamentally grown on this Ammu Swaminathan
ideology. The country has the internal energy amassed Dakshayani Velayudhan
over thousands of years which gives it the stimulus and
capacity to deal with crises.” Celebrating Constitution Begum Aizaz Rasul
Day does not downplay the importance of January 26, but Durgabai Deshmukh
its real purpose is that the present as well as the future
generations should know about the country and contribute Hansa Jivraj Mehta
to building a new India. It is not that Narendra Modi started Kamla Chaudhary
celebrating this day after becoming the Prime Minister. Leela Roy
Prior to this, he had started celebrating Constitution Day
from 2009 onwards when he was the Chief Minister of Malati Choudhury
Gujarat. However, when he became the Prime Minister, Purnima Banerjee
his government chose to celebrate the Constitution Day
to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
When the Indian Constitution was being drafted, women in Renuka Ray
many countries of the world did not even have basic rights, Sarojini Naidu
but 15 women were included in the Constituent Assembly
of India which was tasked with framing of the Constitution Sucheta Kriplani
for Independent India. This edition of the Amrit Mahotsav Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
of independence salutes women celebrities who played a
crucial role in drafting the Constitution of India. Annie Mascarene

New India Samachar November 16-30, 2021 21