I deem it a great privilege and honour to welcome you
all to this historic occasion in this special sitting of this august House
to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. On this day on
26th
November, 1949 , 66 years ago,
the Constituent Assembly had adopted the Constitution of India and now this day
is being celebrated as the Constitution Day. Let us at the outset pay our
homage to the revered memory of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting
Committee and the principal architects of the constitution and also to the
memory of all the sagacious minds who were the distinguished members of
the Constituent Assembly who with their political acumen and wisdom laid the
foundation of the vibrant democracy in our country.
It is most befitting that we should have a two
days (140) special sitting of the House during the Sixth Session of the
Sixteenth Lok Sabha to discuss our commitment to India India India
During the last 65 years, our Constitution has risen
to the time and occasion. The ideals and values set out by our Constitution are
the soul of our vibrant democracy. Our Constitution has established the rule of
law (480) and has steered the direction for achieving social, economic
and political objectives. The ideals and values of the Constitution have
strengthened the social fabric of our democracy giving stability to its
political democracy. I hope and believe that we can strengthen the basic
concept of unity in diversity in our political set-up by adhering to the
enlightened values set out by our founding fathers. The constitutional
jurists have identified various features of the Constitution as basic or
fundamental to it. (560) The most important of these include the
parliamentary system of government, Fundamental Rights, Directive
Principles, secularism, the protection of minority rights , federalism,
republicanism, the people as masters of their destiny, independence of
Judiciary and the power of judicial review. The basic structure doctrine
has evolved over the years and several features have been progressively
incorporated that cannot be tampered with by any organ of the state. In that
sense, our constitution is partly adaptable to the changing times and (640)
partly immutable especially in its basic nature.
In adopting our Constitution, our founding fathers
have chosen parliamentary democracy as the system of governance for the nascent
Republic as in the parliamentary democracy, the assessment and evaluation of
the Executive is carried out on daily and periodical basis. On one hand, the
daily assessment is carried out by hon. Members through (700) different parliamentary
instruments like Parliamentary Questions, Resolutions, No Confidence
Motions, Adjournment Motions and debate.
On the other hand, periodical assessment is carried out by voters during
elections. The Draft Constitution while recommending the parliamentary system
of governance has given priority to more duties over more stability. India is,
indeed, recognized globally as the largest democracy in the world as the
centrality of the people in our democracy has been attested to by casting their
votes with their discretion and wisdom in sixteen General Elections and have
also changed the governments eight times ensuring smooth transition of power.
Undoubtedly, our people have (800) successfully worked a democratic
constitution and shown our commitment to a democratic polity and democratic way
of life.
Here, I would like to quote our first President and
chairman of Constituent Assembly Dr. Rajendra Prasad who had expressed his
unflinching (840) faith in the democratic maturity of the people. I quote: "Some people have doubted the
wisdom of adult franchise, personally, although I look upon it as an experiment
the result of which no one will be able to forecast today, in my opinion,
our people possess intelligence and common sense. They also have a culture
which the sophisticated people of today may not appreciate, but which is solid.
They are not literate and do not possess the mechanical skill of reading and
writing. But, I have no doubt in
my mind that they are able to take measure of their own interest and also
of the interest of the country at large if things are explained to them."
Our Constitution, while (960) focusing on Fundamental Rights, has
guaranteed equal rights to all citizens. It grants each person the freedom of
faith, religion and worship. (980) Top of all, it provides direct
access to the highest court of the land to enforce any of the Fundamental
Rights whenever and wherever they are infringed or suppressed. We have a
liberal polity which ensures the trinity of 'Liberty India
It is pertinent to mention the words of Dr.
Rajendra Prasad in the debate of the Constituent Assembly in this context:
"We have prepared a democratic Constitution. But successful (1120) working
of democratic institutions requires in those who have to work them, willingness
to respect the view points of others, capacity for compromise and
accommodation. Many things which cannot be written in a Constitution are done
by conventions. Let me hope that we shall show those capacities and develop
those conventions." The Directive Principles of the State policy in our
Constitution seek to secure and protect a just social order. Social justice
and inclusive development are central to our development programme. There are
various provisions in our Constitution to strive to achieve them in an
atmosphere of social harmony. In our Parliamentary democracy, it is endeavoured
to ensure peaceful co-existence and progress of all communities irrespective of
caste, creed, religion and language. People of all faiths, sects and ideology
live in our country. These are our social ethos, culture to (1260) have
respect for each other’s views and promote goodwill for all religions. Over the
years, democratization at all levels and (1280) across
different sections of the society has deepened our democratic experience.
The heightened political activism has brought into focus the interests and the
aspirations of the hitherto marginalized sections. The dramatic increase in the
number of political parties representing a diverse range of interests has also
accentuated the federal character of our polity enabling us to maintain unity
in diversity. The alliance governments completing their terms are indicative of
our political maturity. In the presence of political parties in large number, the
representation of as many as 35 parties together with independent leaders is a
testimony to our political pluralism and strength of our democracy. Our
Constitution provides for strong institutions as the fundamental pillars of our
democracy. (1400) Most importantly, the three organs of the state - the
Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary - while being separate
institutions, are the creation of the Constitution and draw their authority
from it. The Constitution visualizes all the three organs of the (1440) State
to work as coordinate partners in ensuring good governance. It does this by
providing exhaustive provisions to give more certainty and stability into the
system so as to prevent them from becoming competing centres of powers. It does
not contemplate any assumption of the roles and functions of one organ by the
other and respect each others jurisdiction. They will continue to do so in
future as well which is what is expected from them. I am glad to say that
the flexibility in our Constitution has enabled our Parliament to initiate
and enact various amendments to the Constitution (1540) having far
reaching significance. It has made possible for us to institute affirmative
action measures for the socially and economically backward segments of the society
together with provision for equal justice for poor and marginalized sections
and free legal aid. It has also enabled us to have right to education as
fundamental right in our Constitution. (1596)
