New Delhi, Nov 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Constitution is now fully implemented in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also said Tuesday was the first time when the Constitution Day was celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at a program held at the Supreme Court to mark the 75 years of the Constitution, Modi said that the country’s Constitution has stood the test of time.
Social justice is the spirit of the constitution, he said, adding that a developed India is one where everyone has dignity of life.
“Our Constitution makers knew that India’s aspirations, India’s dreams will reach new heights with time. They knew that the needs of independent India and its citizens would change, and challenges would change. That is why they did not leave our Constitution as just a mere book of laws. Rather, they made it a living, continuously flowing stream,” Modi said.
Recalling the words of Rajendra Prasad in his concluding address to the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, Modi said he had stated that India does not need anything more than a group of honest people who will keep the country’s interests above their own.
“This sentiment of ‘nation first’ will keep alive the Constitution for centuries to come,” he said.
He said today every citizen of the country has only one goal — to build a developed India,” he said.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, and Supreme Court Bar Association of India President Kapil Sibal attended the event.
India is going through a period of transformation and at such an important time, it is the Constitution of India that is “showing us the way and is a guiding light for us”, Modi said.
Asserting that Indians should get speedy justice, Modi said that for this a new judicial code has been implemented.
“The punishment-based system has now changed to a justice-based system,” he said.
Speaking in a lighter vein while concluding his address, Modi said, “I have tried to keep within the boundaries of the job designated to me by the Constitution. I have not tried any encroachment. I have tried to put forward my views within the boundaries. Only a hint is enough here, there is no need to say much.”
The PM also contrasted the socio-economic situation in India after Independence with the change that has come in the last 10 years.
He said that in the past 10 years, 4 crore people who were homeless for generations, got a house, while more than 10 crore women received free LPG (liquified petroleum gas) connections. As regards tap water at home, the beneficiary count stood at 12 crore households, Modi said.
The PM said that human values are the cornerstone of the law in today’s India. He pointed to the set of “new laws for a new India”.