India is a country who has the longest written constitution in the whole world. Each and every part of the constitution governs the citizens of the country about what are their rights, what they can do and what they cannot do. The Constitution has 22 parts and among each and every part of it, it is clearly mentioned what that part of the constitution is all about. The union and its territory, citizenship, fundamental rights, etc are mentioned under the constitution. Fundamental duties are mentioned among these parts of the constitution.
So, fundamental duties basically implies the moral obligation to all the citizens of a country. It is mentioned under Part IV A of the Indian constitution. The fundamental duties were added by the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976. Fundamental duties, as defined under Article- 51-A are not made enforceable by a writ of court just as the fundamental rights are. The idea of fundamental duties has been borrowed from the constitution of erstwhile USSR. Earlier there were only 10 duties but after the 86th amendment in 2002, one more duty was added and now there are total 11 fundamental duties mentioned in the constitution of the India.
Objective of Fundamental duties are:
- Warning against Anti-Social Activities
As we all know that India is a country where the population is very large, different languages are there, different religions are there which people follow accordingly.
Because of these reasons several activities take place and these activities are positive as well as negative also. If we talk about positive activities then educational programme, spreading awareness, helping poor people, etc are examples of it. But on the other hand if we talk about negative activities that people of the country can do are like disrespecting the National flag of the country or disrespecting our valuable constitution etc. So these fundamental duties act as a warning for the citizens of the country that they are not supposed to do these kinds of activities. So this is one of the main objectives of the fundamental duties.
- Reminder of their duties
Fundamental duties act as a reminder that the people of the country have the right to enjoy their fundamental rights but they should not forget that they have some duties also to follow.
- Promote discipline and commitment
In order to achieve national goals, fundamental duties promote discipline and commitment.
Fundamental duties are ‘Non-Enforceable’ rights and it is the biggest loophole of it. Non- enforceable rights are the rights that if the person doesn’t follow it or doesn’t work according to it then there is no penalty or no fine for it and because of this reason only, fundamental duties are also known as Sanctionless duties. But this loophole can be overcome if the parliament enact a law then the duties can be enforced.
Out of 11 fundamental duties there are 4 duties which are automatically enforced on us through one or another legislation and these duties are
- To abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. (a)
- To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.(g)
- To safeguard public property and to abjure violence(i)
- 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.(k)
Aishwarya Says:
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