Indian Polity Mixed Quiz: Set 13

The correct answer is D, Education. Article 21A says the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years, in such manner as the State may by law determine. It was inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002, which also reworded Article 45 to cover early childhood care and added a parent's duty to educate a child as Fundamental Duty 51A(k). Parliament gave the right its working shape through the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, in force from 1 April 2010. Option A is wrong because there is no fundamental right to work; the right to work appears in Article 41 among the Directive Principles. Option B is wrong because privacy has no separate article and was read into Article 21 by the Supreme Court in 2017. Option C is wrong because the right to equality is Article 14. Exam tip: 86th Amendment, 2002 — Article 21A, a reworded Article 45 and the eleventh Fundamental Duty, all in one Act.

The correct answer is D, President of India. Article 239AA(5) of the Constitution says the Chief Minister of Delhi shall be appointed by the President. The other ministers are also appointed by the President, on the advice of the Chief Minister, and they hold office during the pleasure of the President. This is the key difference from a state, where the Governor appoints the Chief Minister under Article 164. Article 239AA was added by the 69th Amendment Act, 1991, which gave Delhi a Legislative Assembly and named it the National Capital Territory. The Council of Ministers in Delhi cannot be larger than 10% of the Assembly's total strength. Option A is wrong because Delhi, being a Union Territory, has no Governor. Option B is wrong because the Lieutenant Governor is the administrator and administers the oath, but does not make the appointment. Option C is wrong because the Prime Minister has no constitutional role in appointing a Chief Minister. Exam tip: a state's Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor (Article 164); Delhi's by the President (Article 239AA).

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 D, French Revolution. The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution come from the French Revolution of 1789, whose famous slogan was made of these three words. The makers of the Constitution borrowed from many countries and then shaped the ideas to suit India. From France came these three ideals and the idea of a republic. From the former USSR came the ideals of social, economic and political justice and, later, the Fundamental Duties. Britain gave the parliamentary system and Ireland the Directive Principles. A is wrong because the Russian Revolution of 1917 is linked with the ideal of justice, not with this trio. B is wrong because the Magna Carta of 1215 was an English charter that limited the king's power, and it is linked with the idea of rights in general. C is wrong because the American model gave India its Fundamental Rights, judicial review and an independent judiciary. Exam tip: liberty, equality, fraternity, France; justice, USSR; Directive Principles, Ireland; parliamentary system, Britain.

The correct answer is D. The Vice-President is not removed by the President. Article 67(b) says he may be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, and at least fourteen days' notice of such a resolution must be given. No grounds are laid down and there is no formal impeachment procedure, unlike the President's removal. Option A states the position correctly, so it is not the answer: the Vice-President is chosen by an electoral college of the members of both Houses of Parliament alone, including nominated members, and members of State legislatures take no part. Option B is correct because Article 64 makes him the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Option C is correct because Article 67 fixes his term at five years from the day he enters office. Exam tip: the President's removal needs impeachment by both Houses on a stated charge; the Vice-President's needs only a Rajya Sabha resolution agreed to by the Lok Sabha.

The correct answer is C, Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. Under Article 199(3), if a question arises whether a bill is a Money Bill, the decision of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is final. The Speaker endorses a certificate on the bill before it goes to the Legislative Council, where there is one, and then to the Governor. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Assembly and only on the Governor’s recommendation, and the Council can hold it back for no more than 14 days. The same rule works at the Centre, where the Lok Sabha Speaker decides under Article 110(3). Option A is wrong because the Chief Minister heads the government but has no role in certifying bills. Option B is wrong because the Governor recommends the introduction of a Money Bill and gives assent to it, but does not decide its nature. Option D is wrong because the Law Minister may advise the government but holds no such power. Exam tip: Money Bill under Article 199 in the states and Article 110 at the Centre; in both, the Speaker’s decision is final.

The correct answer is A, Jawaharlal Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister from 15 August 1947 until his death on 27 May 1964, about sixteen years and nine months, and no Indian Prime Minister has held the office for longer. He is also the only one to have served continuously through three general elections, in 1952, 1957 and 1962. Option B is wrong because Indira Gandhi served in two spells, from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984, together about fifteen years and eleven months — close to Nehru but short of him. Option C is wrong because I.K. Gujral was Prime Minister for less than a year, from April 1997 to March 1998. Option D is wrong because Narendra Modi took office in May 2014, so his tenure was far shorter than Nehru's when this paper was set. Exam tip: Nehru's tenure of about sixteen years and nine months is the longest, and Indira Gandhi's of about fifteen years and eleven months comes next.

The correct answer is C, 61st Amendment. The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988 changed Article 326, which provides for elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of adult suffrage, and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years. It was passed under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and came into force in March 1989, so the Lok Sabha election of 1989 was the first in which 18-year-olds could vote. The aim was to give young people, a large part of the population, a voice in choosing governments. Option A is wrong because the 66th Amendment (1990) added more land reform laws to the Ninth Schedule. Option B is wrong because the 62nd Amendment (1989) extended the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in legislatures for another ten years. Option D is wrong because the 63rd Amendment (1989) repealed the special emergency provisions for Punjab added by the 59th Amendment. Exam tip: 61st Amendment, 1988, Article 326, voting age 21 to 18.

The correct answer is C, fifteen percent. Article 164(1A) lays down that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in a State's Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of that State's Legislative Assembly, and the same clause fixes a floor of twelve Ministers so that small States are not left with a skeleton cabinet. The clause was inserted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003, which put the same fifteen per cent ceiling on the Union Council of Ministers through Article 75(1A), counted on the strength of the Lok Sabha; the amendment also tightened the anti-defection law. Option A is wrong because twenty per cent appears in none of these clauses. Option B is wrong because ten per cent is lower than the limit Article 164 sets. Option D is wrong because twenty-five per cent has never been the ceiling. Exam tip: 91st Amendment, 2003 — a fifteen per cent cap on both the Union and State Councils of Ministers, with a floor of twelve in a State.

The correct answer is A, Article 11. Part II of the Constitution, Articles 5 to 11, deals with citizenship. Articles 5 to 10 only settled who was a citizen when the Constitution commenced on 26 January 1950; Article 11 then hands the whole subject to Parliament, giving it full power to make any law on acquisition and termination of citizenship. Using this power Parliament passed the Citizenship Act 1955, which lists five ways of acquiring citizenship: birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory. India provides single citizenship, and citizenship is a Union List subject (Entry 17). Option B is wrong because Article 5 defines citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution by domicile. Option C is wrong because Article 8 covers persons of Indian origin living outside India. Option D is wrong because Article 6 covers migrants who came from Pakistan. Exam tip: Articles 5 to 10 = who was a citizen in 1950, Article 11 = Parliament's power, Citizenship Act = 1955.

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 C, Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) does not explain (A). Both events are real steps in the reorganisation of states on the basis of language, but the division of Punjab in 1966 cannot be the reason for what happened to Bombay six years earlier. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 redrew state boundaries along linguistic lines, yet the bilingual state of Bombay was left in place. On 1 May 1960 it was split into Maharashtra for Marathi speakers and Gujarat for Gujarati speakers. In 1966 Punjab was divided in the same spirit, giving Punjab to Punjabi speakers and creating Haryana for Haryanvi or Hindi speakers. Option A is wrong because the Assertion about Bombay is correct. Option B is wrong because an event of 1966 cannot explain an event of 1960. Option D is wrong because the Reason about Punjab is also a true statement. Exam tip: Andhra state 1953; States Reorganisation Act 1956; Maharashtra and Gujarat 1960; Haryana 1966.

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 B, Fourth Schedule. The Fourth Schedule allots the seats of the Rajya Sabha, the Council of States, among the States and Union Territories. Uttar Pradesh gets the most with 31, followed by Maharashtra with 19 and Tamil Nadu with 18, while small states such as Goa, Sikkim and Mizoram get one seat each. Article 80 fixes the House at not more than 250 members, 12 of them nominated by the President for their work in literature, science, art and social service. Members are elected by the State Legislative Assemblies by proportional representation and serve six years, with one-third retiring every two years. A is wrong because the First Schedule lists the States and Union Territories and their territories. C is wrong because the Third Schedule contains the forms of oaths and affirmations. D is wrong because the Second Schedule gives the salaries and allowances of the President, Governors, judges and other officials. Exam tip: Schedule 1 = States and UTs, Schedule 2 = salaries, Schedule 3 = oaths, Schedule 4 = Rajya Sabha seats.

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 B, The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Article 338A sets up this Commission as a constitutional body. It was inserted by the 89th Amendment Act, 2003, which split the old combined National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two; the separate ST Commission began work in 2004. It has a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three members appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, and it reports to the President, who has the report laid before Parliament. An easy hook: the letter A was added when the tribes got a Commission of their own. A is wrong, because the National Commission for Scheduled Castes comes under Article 338. C is wrong, because the National Commission for Backward Classes got constitutional status under Article 338B through the 102nd Amendment, 2018. D is wrong, because the National Commission for Women is a statutory body set up under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. Exam tip: 338 SC, 338A ST, 338B backward classes; the Women's Commission is only statutory.

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.