RAS question
The Fundamental Duties of Indian citizens are enshrined in which Article of the Constitution?
Correct answer: (A) Article 51A.
The Fundamental Duties of Indian citizens are enshrined in Article 51A of Part IVA of the Constitution of India.
Explanation
Article 51A is the specific constitutional provision that lists the Fundamental Duties of citizens, and the official text places it under Part IVA with the heading “Fundamental Duties”. This matters because Article 51A is not part of the Directive Principles sequence in the same way as Articles 50 and 51; it is a separate citizens' duties provision. The exam-relevant history is straightforward: Fundamental Duties were inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. The list originally contained 10 duties, and the 86th Amendment, 2002, added the 11th duty. For RAS, the key is to link Fundamental Duties directly with Part IVA and Article 51A.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Article 51 deals with the promotion of international peace and security, so it is not the article that lists citizens' Fundamental Duties.
- (C) Article 50 concerns the separation of the judiciary from the executive in the State's public services, not the Fundamental Duties of citizens.
- (D) Article 52 establishes that there shall be a President of India, so it belongs to the Union executive provisions rather than Part IVA's duties provision.
Concept
This tests the constitutional location of Fundamental Duties, a high-frequency polity fact because RAS questions often ask candidates to separate Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties by article and part. The recurring trap is confusing Article 51A with nearby Articles 50 and 51.