The Swaran Singh Committee recommended the insertion of which one of the following provisions into the Constitution of India?

Correct — B, Fundamental Duties. The Swaran Singh Committee was set up by the ruling party in 1976, during the Emergency, to suggest constitutional changes, and among its recommendations was that the Constitution should spell out the duties a citizen owes the nation alongside the rights it guarantees. Parliament acted on that recommendation in the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976, which inserted a new Part IVA containing a single article, Article 51A, listing ten Fundamental Duties. Two details are worth keeping straight: the Committee proposed eight duties and Parliament enacted ten, and the Committee's suggestion that the duties be backed by penalties was not accepted, which is why they remain non-justiciable.

• (a)Doctrine of Pleasure — The doctrine of pleasure, under which a civil servant holds office during the pleasure of the President or the Governor, is in Article 310 and was part of the Constitution from the day it came into force. It was inherited from English constitutional practice, not recommended in 1976.
• (c)Nomination of Anglo-Indian Members to the Lok Sabha — The nomination of Anglo-Indian members was Article 331 of the original Constitution of 1950. It ran on repeated extensions until the 104th Amendment Act, 2019 let it lapse with effect from 25 January 2020, so it neither began nor ended with the Swaran Singh Committee.
• (d)Impeachment of the President of India — Impeachment of the President for violation of the Constitution is provided by Article 61 and was in the Constitution as adopted in 1949. No amendment of 1976 introduced it.

Fundamental Duties are the moral and civic obligations of a citizen listed in Article 51A of Part IVA. They are not enforceable by a court against a citizen, and no writ lies for their breach, but courts have used them as an aid in reading other provisions, and Parliament has given several of them statutory teeth through separate laws on the national flag, the national anthem, forests and wildlife.

The way to be sure of this item is to notice that three of the four options are original provisions of the Constitution while only one is an insertion, and 1976 is the giveaway. The 42nd Amendment is the single largest amendment India has passed, and the Swaran Singh Committee is the body behind most of it — the Preamble words socialist, secular and integrity, Article 48A on protection of the environment, and Part IVA all trace to that year. Pairing the environment duty in Article 51A(g) with the environment directive in Article 48A is a useful check, because both entered together and examiners often ask which of the two is a duty and which a directive. An eleventh duty, on a parent or guardian providing education to a child between six and fourteen, was added later by the 86th Amendment Act of 2002.

• The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted Part IVA and Article 51A on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation.
• Ten duties were enacted; the Committee had proposed eight, and its suggestion of penalties for breach was not accepted.
• An eleventh duty, on providing education to a child aged six to fourteen, was added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.
• The same 42nd Amendment inserted Article 48A, directing the State to protect and improve the environment, as a directive principle.
• Fundamental Duties are non-justiciable, but statutes such as the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act give some of them practical force.

• Assuming the number of duties recommended equals the number enacted. Eight were proposed, ten were inserted.
• Thinking Fundamental Duties can be enforced against a citizen by writ. They cannot; only specific statutes give them bite.
• Attributing the Anglo-Indian nomination provision to an amendment. It was original, and an amendment ended it rather than started it.

As a committee-to-provision match, as a question on which amendment inserted Part IVA, or as a statement set on whether the duties are enforceable.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Fundamental Duties were inserted into the Constitution of India by which amendment?

  • (a)The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976
  • (b)The 44th Amendment Act, 1978
  • (c)The 52nd Amendment Act, 1985
  • (d)The 86th Amendment Act, 2002

  Answer(a) The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 — which added Part IVA and Article 51A; the 86th Amendment only added the eleventh duty in 2002.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which Part of the Constitution of India contains the Fundamental Duties?

  • (a)Part III
  • (b)Part IV
  • (c)Part IVA
  • (d)Part IXA

  Answer(c) Part IVA — Part III holds Fundamental Rights, Part IV the Directive Principles and Part IXA the Municipalities.