President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday led the nation in community reading of the preamble to the Constitution on the occasion of the Constitution Day.
“The President read the preamble from Rashtrapati Bhavan which was live telecast by Doordarshan and joined by the people across the nation,” an official statement said.
The Constituent Assembly of India had adopted the Constitution on this day in 1949, and the Modi government decided in 2015 to observe this day annually as the Constitution Day.
It was screened live at Kevadia in Gujarat too which is hosting the 80th All India Presiding Officers' Conference.
The participants also read out the preamble along with the President, the statement said.
“The community reading of the Preamble, organised by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is the part of various activities such as webinars, exhibitions, essay competition, poster competition, quiz competition and slogan competition aimed at highlighting and reiterating the values and principles enshrined in the Constitution,” said the statement.
WATCH: President Kovind lead the nation in reading the Preamble to the Constitution of India
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to makers of the Constitution and said it is a day to reiterate our commitment to building the India of their dreams.
The prime minister tweeted, "We began to observe 26th November as Constitution Day in 2015. Since then, people across India have been marking it with great fervour. This is a day to express gratitude to the makers of our Constitution and to reiterate our commitment to building the India of their dreams."
He also noted that when he was Gujarat chief minister, 'Samvidhan Gaurav Yatra' was organised in Surendranagar.
"In 2010, to mark 60 years of the Constitution, we organised the Samvidhan Gaurav Yatra in Surendranagar, Gujarat. A replica of the Constitution was placed on an elephant and the procession covered parts of the city. I too walked in that procession. It was a unique tribute!" he said.
Earlier in an address to the All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conference, the prime minister had called for taking various measures to popularise the Constitution.
