General Awareness Fundamental Rights and Duties

Fundamental Rights

- The Part III of the Constitution of India gives a detailed description on a charter of rights called the ‘Fundamental Rights'.
- The Fundamental Rights in Indian constitution act as a guarantee that all Indian citizens can and will live their lives in peace as long as they live in Indian democracy.
- They include individual rights common to most liberal democracies, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil right.
- Originally, the right to property was also included in the Fundamental Rights, however, the Forty-Fourth Amendment, passed in 1978, revised the status of property rights by stating that "No person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law."
- Anyone guilty of the non-compliance to such Fundamental rights will be punished as mentioned in the Indian Penal Code, subject to the verdict of the judiciary.

Classification of Fundamental Rights

Originally Constitution provided for Seven Fundamental Rights:

1. Right to equality (Article 14-18) - ‘Right to Equality’, means equality before the law, ruling out any prejudice on the basis of race, religion, caste, creed, gender or place of birth. This right also means an equality of opportunity with respect to employment, abolition of untouchability, and abolition of titles.
2. Right to freedom (Article 19-22) - ‘Right to Freedom’ includes a gamut of rights such as right to speech and expression, right to assemble peacefully or to form association, right to move freely throughout the territory of India, right to life and liberty, right to reside and settle in any part of India and so on.
3. Right against exploitation (Article 23-24) - ‘Right against Exploitation’ talks about the banning of forced labor and prohibition of employment of children in perilous jobs.
4. Right to freedom of religion (Articles 25-28) - ‘Right to Freedom of Religion’ is another important fundamental right that explains the essence of freedom of conscience and profession, freedom to run religious affairs and freedom to give religious instructions in certain institutions.
5. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29-30) - 'Cultural and Educational Rights’ of our constitution explains the preservation of language and culture of minorities and right of minorities to establish educational institutions.
6. Right to property (Article 31) - 'Right to Property' was removed from the list of the Fundamental Rights by the 44th Constitution amendment Act, 1978 and after amendment, it was made legal right under article 300-A in part-12 of the constitution. At present there are only six Fundamental Rights.
7. Right to constitutional remedies (Article 32) - ‘Right to Constitutional Remedies’ deals with the right to move the courts for issuance of writs. The Supreme Court has been empowered to issue writs, namely habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, and quo warranto. This right also lays down the privileges in respect of the National Commission on Minorities, the National Commission on Women, the National Commission on Scheduled Castes, etc.

Fundamental Duties

- Originally, the constitution of India did not contain any list of fundamental duties.
- They were added to the Constitution much later by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
- The fundamental duties were added to the constitution on the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee.
- There were ten fundamental duties at the time of incorporation but the eleventh was inserted by the 86th Amendment in 2002.
- The idea behind incorporation of fundamental duties was to remind the citizens of the country that they have certain obligations towards the country and the society. As the state offers them fundamental rights, it is the fundamental duty of each citizen of India to further national integration and contribute towards a better society.

List of Fundamental Duties

Article 51A, Part IVA of the Indian Constitution, specifies the list of fundamental duties of the citizens. It says “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India:

1. to abide by the constitution and respect its ideal and institutions;
2. to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
3. to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India;
4. to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
5. to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional diversities, to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
6. to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
7. to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;
8. to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
9. to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
10. to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement;
11. 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.

 
SiteLock