Constitution Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm in Seedling School of Law and Governance, Jaipur National University, on 26th November 2022 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. On this occasion, a guest lecture was organized and The Chief Guest of the occasion was Dr M.K. Devarajan, IPS (Retd, DGP) and former Member of State Human Rights Commission, Rajasthan. He spoke on “Constitutional Protection to Vulnerable Groups: A Human Rights Perspective”.
The welcome speech was given by Prof (Dr) RL Raina, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Jaipur National University. He wholeheartedly welcomed the esteemed guest present in the function.
Inaugurating the program, Dr. Devarajan emphasized the importance of Constitution Day, the significance of its celebration and commemorated the people who contributed to the development of the Indian Constitution. He mentioned that there are particular groups who, for various reasons, are weak and vulnerable or have traditionally been victims of violations and consequently require special protection for the equal and effective enjoyment of their human rights. He spoke about additional guarantees for persons belonging to these groups. He focused on groups that are especially vulnerable to abuse of human rights; groups that are structurally discriminated against like women and groups, internally displaced persons, national minorities, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, disabled persons, and so on.
Dr. Devarajan spoke about the concept of human rights is as old as the ancient doctrine of 'natural rights' founded on natural law, the expression 'human rights' is of recent origin, emerging from (post-Second World War) international Charters and Conventions. It would, therefore, be logical to start with the concept of natural rights, which eventually led to the formulation of 'human rights'. He further spoke about the Human Rights in the Indian Constitution with regards to the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles, Right to Life and Personal Liberty. The preamble of Indian Constitution i.e India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic which is aiming to secure justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation were stressed in his speech as these rights are necessity and are not a privilege.
The event was a huge success, as the law students attended it with great enthusiasm and with the purpose to gain knowledge. The event ended with the vote of thanks by Mr. Paras Aneja, Assistant Professor, Seedling School of Law and Governance.