FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF INDIAN CITIZENS

Introduction

The original constitution did not make any mention of the fundamental duties
of citizens. By the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, adopted in 1976,
Fundamental Duties of the citizens have also been enumerated. Article 51 ‘A',
contained in Part IV A of the Constitution deals with Fundamental Duties.
These enjoin upon a citizen among other things, to abide by the Constitution,
to cherish and follow noble ideals, which inspired India's struggle for freedom,
to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so,
and to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood transcending
religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.

The, Fundamental Rights, and Directive Principles of State Policy are

sections of the Constitution of India, that prescribe the fundamental
obligations of the State to the citizens, and the duties of the citizens with
respect to the State. These sections comprise a constitutional bill of rights,
guidelines for government policy-making, and the behaviour and conduct of
citizens and therefore, they are closely interrelated and interconnected.
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 are 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 and gender. They are enforceable by the
courts, subject to specific restrictions. The Directive Principles of State Policy
(DPSP) 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 to 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 legally
enforceable.

The Fundamental Duties

A countervailing factor has been introduced by the 42nd amendment Act of
1976, known as the Fundamental Duties. These duties are mentioned in Art.
51A.

Under this Article, it shall be the duty of every citizen of India: -

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 1. To abide by the Constitution and respect the national flag and the
national anthem;
2. To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national
struggle for freedom;
3. To protect the Sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
4. To defend the country;
5. To promote the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people
of India;
6. To preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
7. To protect and improve the natural environment;
8. To develop the scientific temper and spirit of inquiry;
9. To safeguard Public property;
10.To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective
activity.

The Fundamental Duties of citizens were added by the 42nd Amendment Act
in 1976. The ten Fundamental Duties—given in Article 51-A of the
constitution—can be classified as either duties towards self, duties
concerning the environment, duties towards the State, and duties towards
the nation. The 11th Fundamental Duty, which states that every
citizen "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" was added by the 86th constitutional
amendment in 2002.

Evaluation

These duties are not themselves enforceable in The Courts nor their violation,
as such, punishable, nevertheless, if a Court, before which a Fundamental
Right is sought to be enforced, has to be read all parts of the Constitution, it
may refuse to enforce a Fundamental Right at the instance of an individual
who has patently violated any of the duties specified in Art. 51A.

Citizens are morally obligated by the constitution to perform these duties.

However, these are non-justiciable, incorporated only with the purpose of
promoting patriotism among citizens. These obligations extend not only to
the citizens, but also to the State. There is reference to such duties in
international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Fundamental
Duties obligate all citizens to respect the national symbols of India (including
the constitution), to cherish its heritage, and assist in its defence. It aims to
promote the equality of all individuals, protect the environment and public
property, to develop "scientific temper", to abjure violence, to strive towards
excellence, and to provide free and compulsory education.

It may be observed that these fundamental duties were incorporated in the

constitution in the face of opposition from most of the major national parties.
The opponents argued that more than 99 percent of people were law abiding
and there was no need to tell them to do their duty. Some members felt that
the list of proposed fundamental duties was not quite exhaustive and insisted

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that a number of other matters like family planning, compulsory military
planning for specified period of all students, payments of taxes etc. should be
included in the list of duties. Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister,
justified the inclusion of fundamental duties in the constitution and argued
that their inclusion would help in strengthening our democracy.

Fundamental duties were inserted in the Constitution only during the

Emergency in 1976. This was, at best, a half-hearted step. First, the
fundamental duties enumerated in Article 51A are not exhaustive. Second,
several of them are couched in too general terms. Third, if the fundamental
rights can be enforced in the courts, there is no reason why the fundamental
duties should not be similarly enforceable. Clause (i) casts a duty on the
citizens, for example, “to safeguard public property and to abjure violence.”
But all political parties continue to encourage agitations, demonstrations and
bandhs, which lead to repeated and extensive violence and damage to
property. Even though the Supreme Court has declared bandhs illegal,
political parties still resort to them with utter disregard to the legal
pronouncement by the highest court. Though clause (g) lays down the duty
“to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes,
rivers and wild life,” there has been wanton and large-scale plundering of
natural resources. There is a common perception among citizens that they do
not owe any duty to the country. In their scheme of priorities, caste, religion,
State and country come in that order.

Despite criticisms, it needs to e noted that the fundamental duties serve as a

reminder to the citizens that while enjoying their rights, they should also be
conscious of the duties they owe to the country, their society and their fellow
citizens. Secondly, they also serve as a source of inspiration for citizens and
promote a sense of discipline and commitment among them. Thirdly, they
help the courts in examining and determining the validity of a law. For
instance, in 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that in determining the
constitutionality of any law, if a court finds that the law in question seeks to
give effect to a fundamental duty, it may consider such law to be
‘reasonable’ in relation to article 14 or article 19 and save such law from
unconstitutionality. Hence, the fundamental duties in Article 51 A under Part
IV of the constitution serve a useful function in the constitutional dynamics of
the state.