Look at Indian Constitution Though Interesting Stats and Figures

26th January 1950

This date not only marked the birth of the largest democracy in the world but was also a great transitionary moment in human civilization. It was on this day that world’s oldest civilization turned into a Modern Day Republic, one that has stood tall since then protecting the ideals of equality, liberty, freedom and social justice. Here we go down memory lane and take a look at the Constitution of India through stats and figures

 

299 Members

299 members of the Constituent Assembly were involved in preparing the constitution. When the Constituent Assembly was set up it had 389 members but with a partition of the country it came down to 299. These included 70 representatives from the Princely States and 229 Members from different provinces of the country. Religious and linguistic minorities were adequately represented among the members and there were 15 women members in the group. In all 283 members signed the final draft before the Constitution was formally adopted.

 

13 Committees

There were altogether 13 different committees who looked into key aspects of the governance, law, social justice and the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.  Apart from the Drafting Committee which was led by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar other major sub-committees included the Union Powers Committee Provincial, Constitution Committee, Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee Minorities Sub-Committee, and States Committee.   

1084 Days

The Constituent Assembly took 1084 days to shape the final draft of the constitution. It first met on December 9, 1946, under the chairmanship of Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha and completed the final draft on 26th November 1949 the date the constitution was adopted while it came into effect from 26th January 1950 as we bid adieu to be a British dominion and stepped into a new era of being a Republic. 

 

146385 Words

When the constitution was formally adopted on 26th January 1950 it had 146,385 words which made it the longest written constitution in the world. There are 12 Schedules and 395 Articles that offer path and guidance for everything from law to social justice. The number of words has definitely gone up with newer amendments over the years.

 

101 Amendments

Over 67 years the Constitution has undergone 101 Amendments. Most of these amendments were focussed around offering social justice to the backward tribes and castes, empowering grass root governance and also accommodating the needs of States in a Federal arrangement. So, which the last amendment in the Indian Constitution? It was the Goods and Services Tax Act. 

2000+ Draft Amendments

When there are 299 members of the Constituent Assembly there is bound to be a difference in opinion. The fact that Constitution was being written for a diverse nation created many heated debates among the members. There are more than 7000 requests for draft amendments put before the assembly and in the end request for little over 2000 draft amendments were accepted by the members.

 

 

256 Pen Nibs

What is often known to few people, the original copy of the Constitution was handwritten in beautiful calligraphy by Prem Behari Narain Raizada and he used altogether 256 pen nibs to write this Holy Book of Democracy. Raizada worked painstakingly for more than 6 months to give shape to the constitution and this original copy is carefully stored inside the Parliament.