January 26th, a seed of hope was sown which emerged out as the strong stem of a united nation. It is a significant day for the country’s political history as it is the day when the country formally adopted its constitution in 1950. It replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India thus, turning the nation into a newly formed republic. The constitution gave the citizens a legal guarantee of safeguarding every citizen’s right irrespective of caste, creed, or religion.
The Constituent Assembly was the body meant to draft the Constitution of India. It held its first session on December 9, 1946, attended by 207 members, including nine women. Initially, the assembly had 389 members, however after independence and the partition of India, on August 15, 1947, the strength was reduced to 299.
The Drafting Committee led by Dr. BR Ambedkar was one among the over 17 committees of the Constituent Assembly. The Drafting Committee’s task was to prepare a Draft Constitution for India. The committee got rid of about 2,400 amendments while debating and deliberating the constitution, out of nearly 7,600 amendments tabled.
January 26 was decided to be the Republic Day of India since it was the day that the Indian National Congress (INC) proclaimed the Declaration of Indian Independence in 1930. The date was chosen since the Congress’ Poorna Swaraj resolution was declared on this day.
The resolution also marked the beginning of a large-scale nationwide political movement against colonial rule. With this, it gave ambitious souls the promise of progress. With equality as a founding pillar, the scripture empowered brilliant minds to strive for improvement at a personal and social level which gave birth to numerous pioneers who have contributed to shaping the growth of free India. The emergence of entrepreneur culture today is a direct effect of the spark of self-belief ignited in each of us by the rights given to us by our constitution.
We, the future economic stewards of our nation’s economy celebrate this day that allows us the liberty to invest our creative self and reap the fruits of financial freedom at a personal and institutional level. Wishing everyone a very Happy Republic Day.
