Fundamental Rights, Duties and Directive Principles

Three organs and three tiers

The chapter first recalls Grade 6. Government has three organs: the legislature makes laws, the executive, headed by the prime minister, carries them out, and the judiciary checks that laws agree with the Constitution and decides when a law is broken and what punishment is needed. Keeping them apart, the separation of powers, lets each work properly. There are also three tiers, central, state and local (Panchayati Raj), with some subjects reserved for the Centre and others given to the states. The Constitution defines each organ’s roles and accountability and lays down an electoral system so that every eligible citizen can vote.

Rights, duties and directive principles

Three other core parts of the Constitution are shown in Fig. 10.14. Fundamental Rights include the right to equality (Article 14, equality before law), the right to freedom (Article 21, protection of life and personal liberty), the right against exploitation and the right to education (Article 21-A). Fundamental Duties ask every citizen to follow the Constitution and honour its ideals, its institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; to defend the country and serve when called; to value our composite culture; to protect the natural environment and be kind to living creatures; to strive for excellence; and, as a parent or guardian, to give a child aged six to fourteen the chance to be educated. The Directive Principles of State Policy sum up the framers’ social and economic vision: justice (Article 38), a welfare government (Article 41), a uniform civil code (Article 44), nutrition and public health (Article 47), protecting the environment and wildlife (Article 48-A) and protecting monuments (Article 49). All the Fundamental Rights and Duties are printed in full at the start of every NCERT textbook.

Rights or directive principles?

The two work differently. A Fundamental Right is a binding promise: a person treated unfairly because of their identity can take the matter to court, and the judge can set it right. A Directive Principle is a goal, such as a good standard of living for everyone; if the government does not work towards it, no one can complain to a judge. The framers chose this on purpose: some rights to claim at once, and larger goals to reach step by step as the country grows.

Equality for women

On 22 November 1949, Begum Aizaz Rasul told the Constituent Assembly that Indian women were glad to step into complete equality with men. She said this was not a new idea invented for the Constitution but an old Indian ideal, weakened for a time by social conditions, which the Constitution now affirmed. She was most likely thinking of the right to equality: Article 14 (equality before law), with Article 15, which bars discrimination on grounds including sex.

A living document

The makers knew that new laws and rules would be needed over time. Any change, called an amendment, is debated thoroughly in Parliament, some also in state legislative assemblies; the public’s views are often sought, and some changes start from popular movements. Fundamental Duties arrived as Part IV-A in 1976, and Panchayati Raj followed in 1992 through the 73rd Amendment. Courts also shape how the Constitution is read: in 2004 the Supreme Court held that flying the national flag is part of the freedom of expression, so citizens may fly it with respect at home. The government also invites comments on draft rules, as in the 2023 MyGov consultation shown in Fig. 10.15. Today the Constitution has 25 parts and 12 schedules, up from 22 parts and 8 schedules in 1950.

Why it matters

Knowing our rights helps us stand up to unfair treatment, knowing our duties reminds us what we owe the country, and the Directive Principles let us judge whether governments are working towards a fairer India. How the Constitution was made is in making of the Constitution, and its values in the Preamble and its values. Answers to every question are in the NCERT solutions for Chapter 10; see also the full Chapter 10 notes.