Which of the following terms were added to the Preamble of the Constitution of India by the Constitutional Amendment, 1976? 1. Socialist 2. Secular 3. Integrity 4. Fraternity Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)1, 2 and 3
- (c)2 and 4
- (d)1, 3 and 4
Correct — B, 1, 2 and 3. The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 made exactly two changes to the Preamble, and between them they introduced three words. Section 2 of the Act substituted 'SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC' for 'SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC', which brings in socialist and secular; and it substituted 'unity and integrity of the Nation' for 'unity of the Nation', which brings in integrity. Fraternity was never added, because it was there from the start — the original Preamble adopted on 26 November 1949 already promised 'to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation'. So statements 1, 2 and 3 are the additions and statement 4 is the one that was always present.
- (a)1 and 2 only — Stops at socialist and secular and misses integrity. Integrity is the word most often forgotten, because the change is buried in the fraternity clause rather than in the opening description of the Republic.
- (c)2 and 4 — Pairs one genuine addition with fraternity, which the 1949 Preamble already contained. Nothing in the 42nd Amendment touches the word fraternity itself.
- (d)1, 3 and 4 — Two of these three are additions, but fraternity again is not. The amendment altered what follows fraternity, not fraternity itself.
The Preamble has been amended exactly once, by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976, which received presidential assent on 18 December 1976 with the Preamble clause coming into force on 3 January 1977. The Act was passed during the Emergency on the basis of the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendations, ran to fifty-nine sections and is nicknamed the Mini-Constitution; among much else it inserted Part IVA with ten Fundamental Duties, added Articles 39A, 43A and 48A, and extended the terms of the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies from five years to six.
The reliable memory hook is that the amendment made two substitutions, not four insertions, and that one of them is easy to overlook because it sits inside a sentence rather than in the famous list of adjectives. Read the two clauses as they now stand and the three words fall out: sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, and unity and integrity of the Nation. It is also worth knowing the litigation history, since it recurs in exams. A petition of 2008 challenging the insertion of the word socialist was withdrawn on 12 July 2010 after the Supreme Court described the issue as highly academic.
- The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 received assent on 18 December 1976; the Preamble clause came into force on 3 January 1977.
- It substituted 'SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC' for 'SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC' and 'unity and integrity of the Nation' for 'unity of the Nation'.
- Three words were therefore added — socialist, secular and integrity. Fraternity, justice, liberty and equality were in the original Preamble.
- The Preamble has been amended only once in the history of the Constitution.
- The same Act inserted Part IVA with ten Fundamental Duties, added Articles 39A, 43A and 48A, and lengthened legislative terms from five to six years.
- Forgetting integrity, which is the third word the amendment introduced.
- Believing fraternity was added in 1976; it dates from the original Preamble of 1949.
- Assuming the Preamble has been amended more than once. It has not.
As a list of words to be sorted into original and inserted, or as a single-answer item naming the amendment that inserted socialist or secular.
In the following quotation, “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; In our Constituent Assembly this ‘X’ ………. do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.” ‘X’ stands for
- (a) twenty-sixth day of January, 1950
- (b) twenty-sixth day of November, 1949
- (c) twenty-sixth day of January, 1949
- (d) None of the above
Answer(b) twenty-sixth day of November, 1949
The Preamble printed in full, which is the best way to see where the 1976 words sit. Socialist and secular stand in the opening description and integrity inside the fraternity clause, while the date at the end is the day the Constitution was adopted.
The word 'socialist' was inserted into the Preamble to the Constitution of India through which one of the following Amendment Acts?
- (a) 41st Amendment Act
- (b) 42nd Amendment Act
- (c) 43rd Amendment Act
- (d) 44th Amendment Act
Answer(b) 42nd Amendment Act
The same insertion asked from the other direction — the word is given and the amendment is wanted. Fixing 1976 to socialist, secular and integrity settles both forms of the question.
Through the Forty Second Amendment to the Constitution of India, which of the following was/were inserted into its Preamble? 1. “Liberty of thought, expression and belief” was substituted by “Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship”. 2. The expression “Unity of the Nation” was substituted by “Unity and Integrity of the Nation”. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only
The same amendment with the trap moved to the liberty clause. That clause already read 'thought, expression, belief, faith and worship' in 1949, so the only substitution inside the fraternity sentence is the one that added integrity.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Preamble to the Constitution of India has been amended how many times?
- (a)Never
- (b)Once
- (c)Twice
- (d)Three times
Answer(b) Once — by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, which added socialist, secular and integrity.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The word 'integrity' entered the Preamble to the Constitution of India through which change?
- (a)The phrase 'unity of the Nation' was replaced by 'unity and integrity of the Nation'
- (b)'Sovereign Democratic Republic' became 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic'
- (c)'Liberty of thought and expression' was expanded
- (d)'Equality of status and of opportunity' was inserted
Answer(a) The phrase 'unity of the Nation' was replaced by 'unity and integrity of the Nation' — the second of the two substitutions made by section 2 of the 42nd Amendment.