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 base dare 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 448articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules, 5 appendices
and 98 amendments (Out of 120Constitution 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 1947and 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.
 
[Link] 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 endeavor and achievement.

 11. The parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his childor, 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:-

This prohibits all forms of forced labor, child labor 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 labor (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.

7.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF FUNDAMENTALDUTIES 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 labor. 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, 7Fundamental 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 8Schedules 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 factor was that the framers of the constitution borrowed provisions
from 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 44thAmendment
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 NationalFlag
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 [Link] 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 159countries 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 achieve do wing
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
[Link] 
 
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.