A glimpse back on those machines that printed first copies of our constitution

India will celebrate its 71st Republic Day, a day when it adopted the Constitution and became republic. As President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the nation on the eve said, "Our constitution has given some rights to all of us as citizens of an independent democracy." As the Constitution of India turns 70 this Republic Day, ETV Bharat brings detailed information on the history of the Constitution of India and how did it reach Dehradun based Survey of India which printed first copies of our constitution.

Dehradun:“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.”

The above lines are written in the preamble of our Constitution, which was submitted on November 26, 1949, replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India. Subsequently, on January 26, 1950, the Constitution of India came into effect.

But, have you wondered, when was the Constitution first written and what's the history of it?

ETV Bharat's exclusive story explains the birth of India's Constitution and its history.

The first edition of the Constitution of India is a work of art. After Independence, the first creator of the Indian structure Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and his team were tasked to draft independent India’s founding document, the Constitution of India.

The world's longest written constitution was approved by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. After this, the Survey of India (SoI)of Dehradun was tasked with the responsibility to get this document printed.

It was in Dehradun that the first thousand copies of the constitution were printed. The first printed copy of the constitution is still kept here.

We became independent on 15 August 1947 but at that time we had no constitution to govern ourselves.

To make us a republic and to frame the rules of India, the constituent assembly adopted the newly framed constitution draft on 26 November 1949 and on 26 January 1950, it was implemented.

The next task was to get the constitution printed, and this task was entrusted on the Survey of India at Dehradun.

Dehradun's Survey of India Director, Col Rakesh Singh while talking to ETV Bharat said, "The 1,000 copies were printed in SoI’s Northern Printing Group office located in the Hathibarkala area here, using lithograph printing. The first copy of the constitution was handwritten.

Calligrapher Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena) wrote the Constitution in English and Vasant Krishna Vaidya wrote it in Hindi.

The handwritten copies were illustrated by artists Nandalal Bose, Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, and other artists from Santiniketan.

But the handwritten draft of the Constitution is kept at the national museum in Delhi.

Survey of India, Dehradun still has those machines which were used to print the first copy of the Constitution. These machines may be obsolete in today’s world but are part of our country’s heritage.

The Survey of India’s office at Dehradun is home to both the machines and the first printed copy of the Constitution. Rakesh Singh, the NPG (north printing group) and Director, maps and drawings and transmission centre says that the first copy of the constitution is preserved with utmost care to save it from fungus and dampening.