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Government to release Constitution in nine regional languages, including Nepali, on Constitution Day

NEW DELHI: Marking this years Constitution Day celebrations, the Government will release translated versions of the Constitution of India in nine languages, including Nepali, enabling people in neighbouring Nepal, with whom India shares deep cultural and religious ties, to access the document in their own language, officials said. The other languages include Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Bodo, Kashmiri, Telugu, Odia and Assamese. The translations have been prepared by the Legislative Department of the Union Law Ministry. The event will be held on Wednesday in the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building, now renamed Samvidhan Sadan. President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the function as the chief guest and deliver an address. Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, members from both Houses, and other dignitaries, including heads of diplomatic missions in the national capital, are expected to attend the event. The programme will begin with a welcome address by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, followed by the Vice-Presidents remarks and the Presidents speech to members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. As part of the celebration, the Preamble to the Constitution will be read out by the President. A commemorative booklet titled Bharat ke Samvidhan main Kala aur Calligraphy will also be released on the occasion. Officials said the inclusion of a Nepali translation is among the most notable features of this years observance. Alongside the main event, people from across the country will participate in an online mass reading of the Preamble via MyGov.in and Constitution75.com. At the national, state and local levels, Union ministries, departments, and state and Union Territory administrations will conduct a series of Constitution-themed activities. These include conferences, seminars, debates, exhibitions, short films, cultural programmes, and painting and rangoli competitions, extending from the Panchayat level up to Parliament. Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Diwas, has been observed annually on 26 November since 2015 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. While some provisions came into effect immediately, the remainder were implemented on 26 January 1950, when India became a Republic.