THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Foundation Course Project

NAME: - SOHAM BIPIN DEVLEKAR

TOPIC NAME: - FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AND
RIGHTS
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AND RIGHTS

• The Fundamental Rights is defined as the basic human rights of all citizens.
These rights, defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply irrespective of
race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed or gender.
They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions.

• The Directive Principles of State Policy is guidelines for the framing of laws
by the government. These provisions, set out in Part IV of the Constitution,
are not enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are based
are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is expected to apply
in framing and passing laws.

• The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens
to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the unity of India. These
duties, set out in Part IV–A of the Constitution, concern individuals and the
nation. Like the Directive Principles, they are not enforceable by law.
 INDEX

• 1 .INTRODUCTION

• 2.OBJECTIVES

• 3.NEED AND IMPORTANCE

• 4.FINDINGS

• 5.CONCLUSION

• 6.SUGGESTIONS

• 7.REFERNCE/BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the
framework defining principles powers, and duties of government institutions and
sets out fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizen. It is the
longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 448
articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules, 5 appendices and 98 amendments (Out of 120
Constitution Amendment Bills) Besides the English version, there is an official
Hindi translation .Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is widely regarded as the Father of
the Indian Constitution.
The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State
Policy and Fundamental Duties are sections of the Constitution of India that
prescribe the fundamental obligations of the State to its citizens and the duties of
the citizens to the State.
These sections comprise a constitutional bill of rights for government
policy-making and the behavior and conduct of citizens. These sections are
considered vital elements of the constitution, which was developed between 1947
and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.
The Fundamental Rights is defined as the basic human rights of all citizens. These
rights, defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply irrespective of race, place of
birth, religion, caste, creed or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject
to specific restrictions. The Directive Principles of State Policy is guidelines for
the framing of laws by the government. These provisions, set out in Part IV of the
Constitution, are not enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are
based are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State is expected to apply
in framing and passing laws. The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral
obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the
unity of India. These duties, set out in Part IV–A of the Constitution, concern
individuals and the nation. Like the Directive Principles, they are not enforceable
by law.
 OBJECTIVES
The Constitution of India in Article 51A enshrines 11 fundamental duties upon
all citizens of India, namely:

• 1. To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the
National Flag and National Anthem.

• 2. To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national
struggle to freedom.

• 3. To uphold and protect the sovereignty and integrity of India.

• 4. To defend the country and to 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 religions, linguistic, regional or sectional
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 national environment including forests,

lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.

• 8. To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry 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. The parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child
or, as the case may be, to the ward, between the age of six and fourteen
years.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Fundamental Rights have been included into the chapter 3rd of the constitution
from Article- 12 to 35. The six fundamental rights recognized by the Indian
constitution are:-

1. Right to equality: This includes equality before law, prohibition of

discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender or place of birth,
and equality of opportunity in matters of employment, abolition of
untouchability and abolition of titles.

2. Right to freedom: Which includes freedom of speech and expression,

assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and
right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are
 subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries,
public order, decency or morality), right to life and liberty, protection in
respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention
in certain cases.

3. Right against exploitation: Which prohibits all forms of forced labour,

child labour and traffic of human beings

4. Right to freedom of religion: This includes freedom of conscience and free

profession, practice, and propagation of religion, freedom to manage
religious affairs, freedom from certain taxes and freedom from religious
instructions in certain educational institutes.
 5. Cultural and Educational rights: Preserve the right of any section of
citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities
to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

6. Right to constitutional remedies: This is present for enforcement of

Fundamental Rights.

Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities
of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also been used to
abolish untouchability and thus prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex, or place of birth. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and
forced labour (a crime). They also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic
and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also
establish and administer their own education institutions. They are covered under
articles 14 to 32 of the Indian constitution.
NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF FUNDAMENTAL
DUTIES AND RIGHTS

1. Inculcates Discipline: The fundamental duties inculcate a sense of

discipline in the minds of the Indian citizens. Due to varied diversities, it is
bound to generate some degree of misunderstanding and conflict. The
fundamental duties, therefore, are important to bring discipline among the
citizens, and to avoid conflicts as far as possible.

2. Serves as Guidelines: The fundamental duties under the Constitution

provide guidelines for good conduct of activities on the part of the citizens.
Most of the duties listed under the Constitution are worded in general terms.
It appears that most of them are mere guidelines to enlighten the Indian
citizen. It would be difficult to enforce certain duties on the citizens. For
instance, the duty to strive for excellence, or the duty to develop scientific
temper cannot be enforced upon the citizens. Therefore, the list of
fundamental duties provides mere guidelines for the good conduct of Indian
citizens.

3. Acts as a Balance between Rights and Duties: The fundamental duties try
to balance between the Rights of the citizen and the Duties. It makes people
to realize that if they enjoy certain rights under the Constitution, they must
also perform certain duties in the society.

4. Develops National Spirit: The fundamental duties may develop national

spirit among the citizens. For instance, the duty to uphold and protect the
sovereignty and integrity of India, and the duty to defend the country and
render national service when called upon to do may develop national spirit,
especially, among the younger generation. However, these duties must be
given good publicity through effective campaigns.

5. Develops Respect for Freedom Fighters: The fundamental duties make an

attempt to develop respect for the freedom fighters. For instance, the duty to
 cherish and to follow the noble ideals, which inspired our national struggle
for freedom, makes one person to realize the sacrifices made by the freedom
fighters.

6. Peace and Social Order: The fundamental duties help to maintain peace
and social order in the country. For instance, the duty to promote harmony
and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India makes
people to work for peace and social order.
Importance of fundamental rights

Rights mean those freedoms which are essential for personal good as well as the
good of the community. Fundamental rights are guaranteed by the part III of the
Indian constitution as these basic rights are needed by every citizen for the
development of the citizens. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can
lead their lives in peace and harmony as citizens of India. The Fundamental Rights
are defined as basic human freedoms which every Indian citizen has the right to
enjoy for a proper and harmonious development of personality. These rights
universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste,
creed, color or Gender.
Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities
of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also been used to
abolish untouchability and hence prohibit discrimination on the grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. They also forbid trafficking of human
beings and forced labour. They also protect cultural and educational rights of
ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and
also establish and administer their own education institutions.

Part III of the constitution covers all the traditional civil and political rights
enumerated in the universal declaration of human rights. Dr. Ambedkar described
them as the most citizen part of the constitution. Fundamental rights were deemed
essential to protect the rights and liberties of the people against the encroachment
of the power delegated by them to their government. These fundamental rights
represent the basic values cherished by the people of this country since the Vedic
times and they are calculated to protect the dignity of the individual and create
conditions in which every human being can develop his personality to the fullest
extent. They weave a pattern of guarantee on the basic structure of human rights,
and impose negative obligations on the state not on encroach on individual liberty
in its various dimensions. These rights are regarded as fundamental because they
are most essential for the attainment by the individual of his full intellectual, moral
and spiritual status. The object the inclusion of them in the constitution is to
establish a government of law and not of man. The object is to establish rule of
law.
 THE IMPORTANCE AND FINDINGS

1) The Constitution of India has the distinction of being the most lengthy and
detailed constitutional document, the world has produced so far. The original
Constitution contained as many as 395 Articles and 8 schedules.
2) Provisions of the Constitution and their Source:
Independence of Judiciary: US Constitution
Fundamental Rights and Preamble: US Constitution
System of single citizenship: UK Constitution
Parliamentary Democracy: UK Constitution
3) India is a Republic: The Preamble declares India to be a Republic. India is not
ruled by a monarch or a nominated head of state. India has an elected head of
state (President of India) who wields power for a fixed term of 5 years, but being
the ceremonial head, his powers are actually enjoyed by the council of ministers!
After every 5 years, the people of India indirectly elect their President.
4) Fundamental Rights: Under its Part IIIC (Articles 12-35), the Constitution of
India grants and guarantees Fundamental Rights to its citizens. Initially, 7
Fundamental Rights were granted but after the deletion of the Right to Property
from the list of Fundamental Rights (44th Amendment Act 1979) their number
came down to six. i)Right to Equality ii) Right to Freedom iii) Right against
Exploitation iv) Right to Freedom of Religion v) Cultural and Educational
Right vi) Right to Constitutional Remedies

5) Mixture of Federalism and Unitarianism:

While describing India as a Union of States, the Constitution provides for a federal
structure with a unitary spirit. Scholars describe India as a ‘Quasi-Federation’
(K.C. Where) or as ‘a federation with a unitary bias, or even as ‘a Unitarian
federation.’

6) Article 368 deals with the power of Amendment to the parliament by 2/3rd of
the MPs present and voting in both of the houses and some time needs to be
ratified by half of the states, if the parliament is amending any article that will
affect the states.

7) Emergency Provisions:
i) National Emergency (Article 352) an emergency resulting from war or external
aggression
ii) Constitutional Emergency in a State (Article 356) an emergency resulting
from the failure of constitutional machinery in any state; or some states and
iii) Financial Emergency (Article 360) an emergency resulting from a threat to
financial stability of India.

8) Article 370: It provides the state of Jammu and Kashmir to enjoy special
autonomous powers on all matters except for the matters on national importance
such as Communications, Defense, Finance, and Foreign Affairs! J & K has its
own constitution!

Longest written constitution

Indian Constitution can be called the largest written constitution in the world
because of its contents. In its original form, it consisted of 395 Articles and 8
Schedules to which additions have been made through subsequent amendments. At
present it contains 395 Articles and 12 Schedules, and more than 80 amendments.
There are various factors responsible for the long size of the constitution. One
major factors was that the framers of the constitution borrowed provisions form
several sources and several other constitutions of the world.
They have followed and reproduced the Government of India Act 1935 in
providing matters of administrative detail. Secondly, it was necessary to make
provisions for peculiar problems of India like scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes
and backward regions. Thirdly, provisions were made for elaborate centre-state
relations in all aspects of their administrative and other activities. Fourthly, the size
of the constitution became bulky, as provisions regarding the state administration
were also included. Further, a detail list of individual rights, directive principles of
state policy and the details of administration procedure were laid down to make the
Constitution clear and unambiguous for the ordinary citizen. Thus, the Constitution
of India became an exhaustive and lengthy one.
Fundamental Rights
"A state is known by the rights it maintains", remarked Prof. H.J. Laski. The
constitution of India affirms the basic principle that every individual is entitled to
enjoy certain basic rights and part III of the Constitution deals with those rights
which are known as fundamental rights. Originally there were seven categories of
rights, but now they are six in number. They are (i) Right to equality, (ii) Right to
freedom, (iii) Right against exploitation, (iv) Right to freedom of Religion, v)
Cultural and Educational rights and vi) Right to constitutional remedies. Right to
property (Article-31) originally a fundamental right has been omitted by the 44th
Amendment Act. 1978. It is now a legal right.
These fundamental rights are justifiable and the individual can move the higher
judiciary that is the Supreme Court or the High Courts, if there is an encroachment
on any of these rights. The right to move to the Supreme Court straight for the
enforcement of fundamental rights has been guaranteed under Article 32 (Right to
Constitutional Remedies). However, fundamental rights in India are not absolute.
Reasonable restrictions can be imposed keeping in view the security-requirements
of the state.

Fundamental Duties
A new part IV (A) after the Directive Principles of State Policy was incorporated
in the constitution by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 for fundamental duties. These
duties are:
i) To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National
Flag and the National Anthem;
ii) To cherish and follow the noble ideals, which inspired our national struggle for
freedom;
iii) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
iv) To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
v) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the
people of India transcending religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities,
to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of woman;
vi) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
vii) to protect and improve the natural environments including forests, lakes, rivers
and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures;
viii) to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
ix) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
x) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so
that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of Endeavor and achievement.
The purpose of incorporating these duties in the Constitution is just to remind the
people that while enjoying their right as citizens, should also perform their duties
for rights and duties are correlative.
Relationship between the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and
Fundamental Duties
The Directive Principles have been used to uphold the Constitutional validity of
legislations in case of a conflict with the Fundamental Rights. Article 31C, added
by the 25th Amendment in 1971, provided that any law made to give effect to the
Directive Principles in Article 39(b)–(c) would not be invalid on the grounds that
they derogated from the Fundamental Rights conferred by Articles 14, 19 and 21.
The application of this article was sought to be extended to all the Directive
Principles by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, but the Supreme Court struck down
the extension as void on the ground that it violated the basic structure of the
Constitution. The Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles have also been
used together in forming the basis of legislation for social welfare. The Supreme
Court, after the judgment in the Kesavananda Bharati case, has adopted the view
of the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles being complementary to each
other, each supplementing the other's role in aiming at the same goal of
establishing a welfare state by means of social revolution. Similarly, the Supreme
Court has used the Fundamental Duties to uphold the Constitutional validity of
statutes which seeks to promote the objects laid out in the Fundamental Duties.
These Duties have also been held to be obligatory for all citizens, subject to the
State enforcing the same by means of a valid law. The Supreme Court has also
issued directions to the State in this regard, with a view towards making the
provisions effective and enabling a citizens to properly perform their duties.
Criticism and analysis
Fewer children are now employed in hazardous environments, but their
employment in non-hazardous jobs, prevalently as domestic help, violates the spirit
of the constitution in the eyes of many critics and human rights advocates. More
than 16.5 million children are in employment. India was ranked 88 out of 159
countries in 2005, according to the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist
among public officials and politicians. The year 1990–1991 was declared as the
"Year of Social Justice" in the memory of B.R. Ambedkar.The government
provides free textbooks to students belonging to scheduled castes and tribes
pursuing medicine and engineering courses. During 2002–2003, a sum
of Rs. 4.77 crore (47.7 million) was released for this purpose. In order to protect
scheduled castes and tribes from discrimination, the government enacted
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,
prescribing severe punishments for such actions.
The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 empowers government to fix minimum wages
for people working across the economic spectrum. The Consumer Protection Act
of 1986 provides for the better protection of consumers. The Equal Remuneration
Act of 1976 provides for equal pay for equal work for both men and
women.The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (Universal Rural Employment
Program) was launched in 2001 to attain the objective of providing gainful
employment for the rural poor. The program was implemented through
the Panchayati Raj institutions.
A system of elected village councils, known as Panchayati Raj covers almost
all states and territories of India. One-third of the total number of seats has been
reserved for women in Panchayats at every level; and in the case of Bihar, half the
seats have been reserved for women. The judiciary has been separated from the
executive "in all the states and territories except Jammu and Kashmir
and Nagaland."India's foreign policy has been influenced by the Directive
Principles. India supported the United Nations in peace-keeping activities, with
the Indian Army having participated in 37 UN peace-keeping operations.
The implementation of a uniform civil code for all citizens has not been achieved
owing to widespread opposition from various religious groups and political
parties.The Shah Bano case (1985–86) provoked a political firestorm in India when
the Supreme Court ruled that Shah Bano, a Muslim woman who had been divorced
by her husband in 1978 was entitled to receive alimony from her former husband
under Indian law applicable for all Indian women. This decision evoked outrage in
the Muslim community, which sought the application of the Muslim personal law
and in response the Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Divorce) Act, 1986 overturning the Supreme Court's verdict. This act provoked
further outrage, as jurists, critics and politicians alleged that the fundamental right
of equality for all citizens irrespective of religion or gender was being jettisoned to
preserve the interests of distinct religious communities. The verdict and the
legislation remain a source of heated debate, with many citing the issue as a prime
example of the poor implementation of Fundamental Rights.
The fundamental duties are general guidelines meant for the good conduct of the
citizens. Certain guidelines cannot be enforced on the citizens, such as the duty to
excel, or to develop scientific temper, one needs to have a good deal of
imagination and dedication and commitment. And every one may not possess the
power of imagination, and the quality of dedication and commitment. Also one
cannot punish a citizen for not excelling or for not developing scientific temper.
The fundamental duty reflects the totalitarian nature of the government. The
fundamental duties are enforced under the totalitarian or authoritarian
Governments such as in Russia, China, etc. However, this criticism is not justified,
as the government of India does not strictly enforce most of the duties on the
citizens.
Some of the fundamental duties are mere duplication of some of the Laws and
Acts. For instance, the behavior of the citizens is already governed by civil and
criminal laws of the country and therefore, the fundamental duties seem redundant.
For instance, there are certain acts in force such as Prevention of cruelty to
Animals Act, Wild Life Protection Act, Prevention of Insulting Women and Girls
Act.
 Conclusion and Suggestions
Fundamental duties and rights of citizens serve a useful purpose. In
particular, no democratic polity can ever succeed where the citizens are not willing
to be active participants in the process of governance by assuming responsibilities
and discharging citizenship duties and coming forward to give their best to the
country. Some of the fundamental duties enshrined in Article 51A have been
incorporated in separate laws. For instance, the first duty includes respect for the
National flag and National Anthem. Disrespect is punishable by law. To value and
preserve the rich heritage of the mosaic that is India should help to weld our people
into one nation but much more Article 51A will be needed to treat all human
beings equally, to respect each religion and to confine it to the private sphere and
not make it a bone of contention between different communities of this land. The
most important task before us is to reconcile the claims of the individual citizen
and those of the civic society. To achieve this, it is important to orient the
individual citizen to be conscious of his social and citizenship responsibilities and
so shape the society that we all become solicitous and considerate of the
inalienable rights of our fellow citizens. Therefore, awareness of our citizenship
duties is as important as awareness of our rights. Fundamental rights are very
important for the people. These are to be, however used, in the interest of unity and
securities of the state. Fundamental rights are those rights and freedom of the
people of India, which enjoy constitutional recognition and guarantee.
Fundamentals Rights and Duties are of no use until we use our rights for the
betterment of our society. Only written things are of no use until we make it in
our practice. If time we live our differences behind, come together and fight for
things that are fundamentally right. The revolution can happen.
REFERNCE /BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.wikipedia.co.in

FC -1 Manan Prakashan

 Austin, Granville (1999). The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation.

New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 390. ISBN 0-19-564959-1.
 Basu, Durga Das (1993). Introduction to the Constitution of India (15th ed.).
New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. p. 475. ISBN 81-203-0839-5.
 Basu, Durga Das (2003). Shorter Constitution of India (13th ed.). Nagpur:
Wadhwa & Co. p. 1972. ISBN 978-81-8038-206-2.