Indian Polity Quiz: Fundamental Duties

The correct answer is Part IV A. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted a new Part IVA into the Constitution, with a single Article, 51A, that lists the Fundamental Duties of every citizen. It was placed immediately after Part IV, the Directive Principles, because both are non-justiciable: neither can be enforced directly in a court of law.

The other options are the Parts nearby. Part II, Articles 5 to 11, deals with citizenship. Part III, Articles 12 to 35, contains the Fundamental Rights, which is the most common wrong answer because people expect rights and duties to sit together. Part V begins at Article 52 and deals with the Union: the President, the Council of Ministers, Parliament and the Supreme Court. A neat way to remember the sequence: Part III rights, Part IV directives, Part IVA duties. Many critics argued that the duties should have been placed alongside the rights in Part III, but Parliament chose to keep them separate.

The correct answer is Forty - Second Amendment Act, 1976. Passed during the Emergency on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, the 42nd Amendment inserted Part IVA and Article 51A with ten Fundamental Duties. It made so many changes to the Constitution, including adding "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" to the Preamble, that it is often called the "mini-Constitution".

The other amendments did different things. The 44th Amendment (1978) reversed many of the 42nd's changes, removed the right to property from the Fundamental Rights, and protected Articles 20 and 21 during an emergency. The 47th Amendment (1984) added more land reform laws to the Ninth Schedule. The 52nd Amendment (1985) brought in the anti-defection law through the Tenth Schedule. Remember that the Fundamental Duties have been amended only once since 1976: the 86th Amendment of 2002 added the eleventh duty, on the education of children.

The correct answer is Swaran Singh Committee. In 1976 the government set up a committee under Sardar Swaran Singh to suggest changes to the Constitution. It recommended a separate chapter on Fundamental Duties, arguing that citizens should be conscious of their duties as well as their rights. It suggested eight duties; the 42nd Amendment adopted ten. Some of its ideas were not accepted, such as a duty to pay taxes and penalties for not performing the duties.

The other committees are real but belong to other subjects. The Tarapore Committee was set up by the Reserve Bank of India on capital account convertibility. The Radhakrishnan Committee, the University Education Commission of 1948–49 headed by Dr S. Radhakrishnan, dealt with higher education. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) recommended the three-tier Panchayati Raj system. A later body on the same subject is also asked: the Justice J.S. Verma Committee (1999) identified the laws that give effect to the Fundamental Duties.

The correct answer is USSR. The idea of writing citizens' duties into the Constitution was taken from the Constitution of the former Soviet Union, which listed duties alongside rights. Most democratic constitutions, such as those of the USA, Canada and Australia, contain no such list, which is why the Soviet source is the one to remember. The USSR is also the source of the ideal of social, economic and political justice in the Preamble.

The other countries gave India other features. The USA gave the Fundamental Rights (inspired by its Bill of Rights), judicial review, the impeachment of the President and the removal of Supreme Court judges. Germany's Weimar Constitution gave the suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency. Australia gave the Concurrent List, freedom of trade and commerce, and the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. A simple memory pair: rights from the USA, duties from the USSR.

The correct answer is 11. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added ten Fundamental Duties in Article 51A, clauses (a) to (j). The 86th Amendment Act, 2002 added an eleventh, clause (k), which asks a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his or her child or ward between the ages of six and fourteen. So today there are eleven Fundamental Duties, all in a single Article.

Each wrong option is a number from the same story, which is why it tempts. Eight is the number of duties the Swaran Singh Committee recommended. Ten is the number added in 1976, before the 2002 amendment. Six is the number of Fundamental Rights today, after the right to property was removed in 1978. Keep the sequence in one line: the committee suggested 8, Parliament added 10 in 1976, and the 86th Amendment made it 11 in 2002. Questions often ask "how many were added in 1976" as well, and there the answer is ten.

The correct answer is Eighty - sixth amendment Act. The 86th Amendment Act, 2002 inserted clause (k) in Article 51A: "who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years." The same amendment made free and compulsory education for children of six to fourteen a Fundamental Right under Article 21A, and rewrote Article 45 so that it now covers early childhood care and education below six. It is the only amendment to the Fundamental Duties since they were introduced in 1976.

The other options are amendments from the same period on different subjects. The 81st (2000) and 82nd (2000) dealt with reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs, covering backlog vacancies and relaxed qualifying marks in promotions, and the 84th (2001) extended the freeze on the delimitation of constituencies. When you see "51A(k)", "21A" or "six to fourteen years" in a question, think of the 86th Amendment.

The correct answer is Article 51A (a). The very first Fundamental Duty asks every citizen to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. Parliament had already backed this up with the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which punishes insulting the Flag, the Constitution or the Anthem.

The other clauses carry different duties. Clause (b) asks citizens to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired the national struggle for freedom. Clause (c) asks them to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Clause (d) asks them to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so. A frequent trap follows from this question: clause (a) names the National Flag and the National Anthem, but it does not mention the National Song, "Vande Mataram". An option such as "to respect the National Song" is therefore not a Fundamental Duty.

The correct answer is Fundamental Duty. Article 51A(h) asks every citizen "to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform". It means questioning superstition, looking for evidence before believing a claim, and being open to change. India is one of the few countries whose Constitution asks its citizens to develop a scientific outlook.

The other options are the other parts of the Constitution that people confuse with the duties. A constitutional remedy is the right to move the Supreme Court or a High Court for the enforcement of a right, under Articles 32 and 226. The Fundamental Rights in Part III are guarantees that the State must respect, not duties that citizens must perform. The Directive Principles in Part IV are instructions to the State, not to citizens. Remember the difference in one line: rights are what the State owes you, directives are what the State should aim for, and duties are what you owe the nation.

The correct answer is To safeguard public property and to abjure violence. That is the duty in Article 51A(i). It asks citizens not to damage buses, trains, roads, government buildings and other public property, and to reject violence, for example during protests. Parliament has also made damage to public property a criminal offence through the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

The other options are duties from different clauses. To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture is clause (f). To defend the country and render national service when called upon is clause (d). To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India is clause (c). Clause-matching questions are common, so it helps to link each letter with a keyword: (a) Constitution, Flag and Anthem; (c) sovereignty; (d) defence; (e) harmony and women's dignity; (f) composite culture; (g) environment; (h) scientific temper; (i) public property; (j) excellence; (k) education.

The correct answer is To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity. The tenth Fundamental Duty is clause (j) of Article 51A, which continues: "so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement". It was also the last of the ten duties added in 1976, which is why it is sometimes described as the concluding duty of the original list.

The other options sit at different positions in the list. Developing the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform is clause (h), the eighth duty. Cherishing and following the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom is clause (b), the second. Providing opportunities for education to a child or ward between six and fourteen is clause (k), the eleventh, added in 2002. Counting is easy once you know the letters: (a) is the first duty, so (j), the tenth letter, is the tenth duty and (k) the eleventh.

The correct answer is To protect and improve the natural environment. Teaching people to turn kitchen waste into compost for a park reduces waste and enriches the soil, which is exactly what Article 51A(g) asks for: to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures. It matches the Directive Principle in Article 48A, which asks the State to protect the environment.

The other duties do not fit the activity as closely. Striving towards excellence, clause (j), is about raising the nation's achievements in every field. Safeguarding public property and abjuring violence, clause (i), is about not damaging what belongs to the public. Developing the scientific temper, clause (h), is about questioning and reasoning, and although making compost involves some science, the purpose of the session is environmental. This kind of situation-based question is becoming common in SSC papers, so practise linking everyday actions to the clause they fulfil.

The correct answer is They may not be used for determining constitutionality of laws, because this statement is false. The Supreme Court has held that when a court tests whether a law is constitutional, and finds that the law gives effect to a Fundamental Duty, it may treat the law as "reasonable" under Article 14 or Article 19 and uphold it. So the duties can indeed help determine the constitutionality of laws, even though they cannot themselves be enforced.

The other three statements are correct, which is what makes the question hard. The Fundamental Duties were not part of the original Constitution of 1950; they were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. Safeguarding public property and abjuring violence is a Fundamental Duty, clause (i) of Article 51A. And the duties are not enforceable through writs, because they are non-justiciable: no court can order a citizen to perform them, though Parliament can enforce them through ordinary laws. In a "NOT correct" question, test each statement separately before choosing.

The correct answer is Verma Committee. In 1999 the Committee on the Fundamental Duties of Citizens, headed by Justice J.S. Verma, a former Chief Justice of India, looked at how the duties could be made operational. It identified the laws already in force that give effect to some of them, such as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and laws on wildlife and forests, and suggested ways to teach the duties.

The other committees dealt with other subjects. The L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986) recommended constitutional status for local self-government institutions, which led towards the 73rd and 74th Amendments. The Vasantrao Naik Committee was set up by Maharashtra on democratic decentralisation and panchayati raj. The Rajamannar Committee (1969) was appointed by the Tamil Nadu government to study Centre-State relations. For the Fundamental Duties remember two committees: Swaran Singh (1976) recommended them, and Verma (1999) looked at how to make them work.

The correct answer is To vote in public elections. Voting is not among the eleven Fundamental Duties in Article 51A. The right to vote comes from Article 326, which provides for elections on the basis of adult suffrage, and from the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It is not a Fundamental Right, and voting is not a Fundamental Duty. Critics often point to its absence, along with paying taxes, as a gap in the list.

The other three options are genuine Fundamental Duties: valuing and preserving the rich heritage of our composite culture is clause (f); safeguarding public property and abjuring violence is clause (i); and upholding and protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India is clause (c). Whenever a "NOT a Fundamental Duty" question appears, look first for voting, paying taxes, family planning or respecting the National Song: none of these is on the list.

The correct answer is To value and preserve a unitary national culture. Article 51A(f) actually asks citizens "to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture". The word matters: India's culture is described as composite, a blend of many traditions, languages and faiths, not a single unitary culture. By changing one word, the examiner turns a real duty into a false one.

The other three options are genuine duties. Rendering national service when called upon to do so is part of clause (d). Renouncing practices derogatory to the dignity of women is part of clause (e), which also asks citizens to promote harmony across religious, linguistic and regional diversities. Developing the spirit of inquiry and reform is part of clause (h), along with the scientific temper and humanism. This question is a reminder to learn the exact wording of the duties, because CDS and UPSC papers often test a single changed word rather than the whole idea.