Constitution Day: Be alive to your civic duties, says Banwarilal Purohit

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 25

The nation will celebrate Constitution Day on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.

“On this occasion, I would like to pay tributes to Baba Sahib Bhim Rao Ambedkar and all great men and women who worked tirelessly, directly or indirectly, to bequeath this most important legacy to us,” said UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit in a message to the public.

“On this occasion, I would also like to make an appeal to the people of the city to be alive to your civic duties; to the need to maintain cleanliness in the City Beautiful. Help the Administration to make the City Beautiful the ‘Most Beautiful City’,” he said.

The beauty of our Constitution lies in its flexibility and scope for interpretation, which makes it responsive to the need of the times and is enriched by the experience of the decades, he stated. The Constitution is a lodestar for the socio-economic transformation of an India whose civilization has celebrated pluralism, advocated tolerance and promoted goodwill between diverse communities. These values, however, need to be preserved with utmost care and vigilance.

“Our founding fathers pulled together India’s remarkable diversity to build national unity, which has brought us so far. The Constitution represented a second liberation, this time from the stranglehold of traditional inequity in gender, caste, community, along with other fetters that had chained us for long,” he said.

“Over seven decades since Independence and adoption of the Constitution, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to democracy, yet, we must be conscious of the fact that our democracy requires constant nurturing. At no cost should we allow the exploitation of the fault lines,” he said

“Let us strive for rapid progress, but even as we do so, ensure that the benefits of economic progress percolate down to the poorest of the poor and those living in the farthest corners of our country. Let us make the poorest in our land a part of the story of a rising India. Let us embrace education, skill development and innovation, which will enable us catapult India into the future and build a knowledge economy,” he added.