Govt goofs up on Constitution Day ad

Delhi government on Thursday faced embarrassment after its advertisement on the Constitution Day in English dailies omitted the Preamble words “socialist” and “secular”, besides misspelling “sovereign”.

The government however, apologised for the error and said it has ordered a probe.
“The Chief Minister has taken a stern view of the matter and has directed the Director of Information and Publicity to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within four days,” a statement issued by the Arvind Kejriwal government said.

Officials said the Directorate of Information and Publicity will ascertain how such important components of the Preamble of the Constitution went missing from the text.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who addressed a Delhi government-organised event in commemoration of the Day, said the inquiry will focus on whether there was some mischief involved in this matter.

“When the CM-saheb phoned me in the morning to inquire, I felt it was a big mistake. Each word in the Constitution deserves the same respect as our tricolour.

Some may say this is a minor typographical error, but no, responsibilities have to fixed,” he told the audience at the Constitution Club, where Kejriwal was supposed to be the chief guest. He didn’t show up at the event because of his bad health.

The two words were not a part of the original Preamble of the Constitution but were introduced through the 42nd Amendment in 1976.

The BJP-led Union government made a similar goof-up in its official advertisements on Republic Day early this year. The Opposition, including the AAP, had then cornered the BJP, saying the omission was not an oversight, but deliberate, as it came in the backdrop of the controversial ghar wapsi (or reconversion) programmes of some Hindu organisations.

But despite being red-faced over error in its Constitution Day ad, Sisodia dragged in the issue of rising tide of intolerance in the country.

“When we celebrate the Day next year, I hope we don’t get to hear that some Dalit has been set ablaze alive, I hope someone is not prevented from entering the temple, and I also hope that people don’t refuse to eat the mid day meal cooked by a Dalit. If such these incidents resurface, we should know who considers it a matter of heart and therefore opposes it, and who just addresses it in their ‘Mann Ki Baat’,” Sisosdia said.

On the occasion, Minister for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Welfare Sandeep Kumar said the Civil Lines Metro Station should be named after Bhim Rao Ambedkar. He also said the Delhi Government should propose Ambedkar’s name to Centre for Nobel Peace Prize recommendation.