A student, on his school assignment, is taking a session on how to make compost at home for using it at a park. Which fundamental duty is he performing?

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.