‘The Citizen’, a model campaign through which Kollam became the first Constitution literate district in India, will now be implemented in Karnataka. Around 7 lakh families in Kollam were educated on the basic principles of Indian Constitution as part of ‘The Citizen’. Gadag district in Karnataka is expected to launch the year-long campaign in November.
Jointly organised by Kollam district panchayat, District Planning Committee and Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), the campaign involved more than 2,000 trainers. The Preamble was distributed in all households and institutions across the district. “The district administration of Gadag got in touch with Kerala government after a delegation from Karnataka came to know about the campaign during a recent visit. They will be following the same systematic plan,” says V. Sudesan, Deputy Development Commissioner and faculty, KILA.
Nearly all persons above the age of 10 were introduced to the historical background of the document, its basic principles, fundamental rights of citizens and legal remedies, in connection with ‘The Citizen’. “The population of Gadag is around 10 lakh and for them it’s an all-new educational process. The district has nearly 2 lakh families,” he adds.
The campaign was coordinated by local bodies and a string of forums were constituted at various levels for its implementation. Gadag will be following the same format and the district has already organised a round of orientation sessions with the help of KILA.
“As of now, we have conducted introductory sessions for various local body representatives. They were briefed on the campaign, its objective and different phases of the process. Around 4,000 people attended the primary sessions,” says Mr. Sudesan, who handled the classes at Gadag.
In Kollam, the Preamble of the Constitution was installed at government offices, private institutions and schools while handbooks and pamphlets were distributed to spread awareness. KILA had prepared a specially designed Preamble of the Constitution in Malayalam along with a handbook for the purpose.
“We will be preparing an English version of the book for Karnataka. Kannada Preamble and handbooks will be prepared using it, to be distributed among the people of Gadag,” adds Mr. Sudesan.
