Ministry plans online signature campaign on November 26

New Delhi: A proposal to involve around 30 crore students and their parents in a citizenry consciousness exercise has been lying in limbo at the Union ministry of HRD even as it is contemplating an online signature campaign to celebrate Nov. 26 as the Constitution Day.  

The massive exercise, which could have been a world record, envisages involvement of all students across the country up to Class 10 in writing a pledge (each in his/her mother tongue) written in the spirit of fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution, obtaining signatures of their parents on the said document and submitting the same in the class on Nov. 27 (Monday).

The pledge developed in 15 languages by civil society, Build India Group, with uniformity in contents covers the entire country. Also illiterate parents could have bee linked to the spirit of their duties, while putting their signatures, Rajya Sabha MP A.V. Swamy, who is also a noted Gandhian, said.

Mr Swamy said he had met Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Nov. 15 to have this exercise conducted on Nov. 26 and Mr Javdekar happily agreed to the proposal.

He expressed surprise why it could not be done despite Mr Javadekar issuing an instruction in this regard.

Mr Swamy, who had demanded that the Parliament celebrate Nov. 26 as the Citizens Day, had also written a letter dated Nov. 2, 2017 to Mr Javdekar in this regard.

“I think if students across the country are given a homework to write the pledge in their mother tongue in their own handwriting, obtain signatures of their parents  and submit the same to their respective institution authorities on Monday i.e. Nov. 27, 2017, it could be a great mass communication exercise of at least 80 crore people. The pledge in all languages has to be circulated well in advance,” event, the letter read.

The Build India Group came out with a pledge in 2009 in 15 languages with uniformity in contents so that the students across the country give a written commitment to be good citizens in a programme called the pledge festival.

Areound 11 MPs from across the country had composed a memorandum to the government in Sept. 2013 to celebrate Nov. ember 26 as Citizens Day or National Pledge Day.

The significance behind declaring Nov. 26 as the Citizens’ Day is that the people of India, who were subjects in 562 kingdoms before India gained Independence were declared as sovereign owners of this country by Constituent Assembly with the adoption of a preamble to the Constitution.  

In 2016, Mr Javadekar, T.C. Gehlaut and others were appointed to suggest how to celebrate the Constitution Day.

Mr Javadekar while appreciating the idea of sensitising the students of their fundamental duties as proposed by BIG, had issued instructions to educational institutions across the country last year so that the students understand about their ownership of the country, Mr Swamy said.