Which of the following statement is correct with respect to ‘Right against exploitation’ ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — option (1). The Right against Exploitation is the fourth of the six clusters of Fundamental Rights in Part III of the Constitution, and it consists of exactly two articles, 23 and 24. Article 23 is headed 'Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour', which is word for word the content of the keyed option, and it declares that traffic in human beings, begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited, making any contravention an offence punishable in accordance with law. The reach of the article is worth appreciating. 'Traffic in human beings' covers the buying and selling of human beings, including the trade in women and children for immoral purposes and the practices of slavery and bonded labour; 'begar' is the old practice of compelling a person to work without payment, and the article extends beyond it to 'other similar forms of forced labour', which the Supreme Court has read to include labour paid at less than the statutory minimum wage, on the reasoning that a person driven by want to accept less than the wage the law prescribes is not working freely. The article's second clause allows one exception: the State may impose compulsory service for public purposes, and in doing so may not discriminate on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class — which is what permits conscription or compulsory social service without offending the right. Article 24, the other half of the cluster, forbids the employment of any child below the age of fourteen years in a factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment. Two features of the right are worth holding. Unlike several other Fundamental Rights, these two are available against private persons as well as against the State, because exploitation of this kind is characteristically inflicted by one private party on another; and they are available to citizens and non-citizens alike. A large body of legislation gives them effect, including the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. Every other option in this set is the heading of an article belonging to a different cluster of Fundamental Rights, which is the whole design of the question. Note two printing points: the English stem reads 'Which of the following statement is', with a singular noun after 'following', and the word 'correct' is printed in bold in the English column, as is 'बरोबर' in the Marathi.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) This is Article 27, and it belongs to the Right to Freedom of Religion, the cluster running from Article 25 to Article 28. The article provides that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination — an application of the secular principle that the State's revenues may not be used to favour one faith. It is worth distinguishing it from its neighbours in the same cluster: Article 25 guarantees freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion; Article 26 gives every religious denomination the right to manage its own religious affairs; and Article 28 restricts religious instruction in educational institutions maintained wholly out of State funds. None of these concerns exploitation, and a candidate who places this option in the right cluster rejects it at once.  (c) This is the heading of Article 29, which belongs to the Cultural and Educational Rights, the cluster of Articles 29 and 30. Article 29 protects the right of any section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture of its own to conserve it, and forbids the denial of admission to any State-maintained or State-aided educational institution on grounds only of religion, race, caste or language; Article 30 gives all minorities, whether based on religion or on language, the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, and protects them in the matter of State aid and of compulsory acquisition of their property. Both concern the preservation of identity and access to education, not exploitation. A useful point to remember is that although Article 29 is headed 'Protection of interests of minorities', its first clause speaks of 'any section of the citizens', so its protection is not confined to minorities alone.  (d) Equality before law is Article 14, and it belongs to the Right to Equality, the cluster running from Article 14 to Article 18. Article 14 declares that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India, joining a negative English conception with a positive American one; Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth; Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment; Article 17 abolishes untouchability; Article 18 abolishes titles. This option is the most likely of the three to attract a candidate, because forced labour and human trafficking do offend equality in a broad moral sense. But the question asks which statement belongs to a specific named right, and the Constitution assigns exploitation its own two articles rather than leaving it to the equality clause.

Concept: The Fundamental Rights in Part III of the Constitution fall into six clusters. The Right to Equality covers Articles 14 to 18 — equality before law, prohibition of discrimination, equality of opportunity in public employment, abolition of untouchability and abolition of titles. The Right to Freedom covers Articles 19 to 22, including the six freedoms of Article 19, protection in respect of conviction for offences in Article 20, protection of life and personal liberty in Article 21, the right to education in Article 21A and protection against arrest and detention in Article 22. The Right against Exploitation is Articles 23 and 24: prohibition of traffic in human beings, begar and other similar forms of forced labour, and prohibition of the employment of children below fourteen in factories, mines and other hazardous work. The Right to Freedom of Religion is Articles 25 to 28, covering freedom of conscience and profession, the management of religious affairs, freedom from taxes for the promotion of a particular religion, and restrictions on religious instruction in State-funded institutions. Cultural and Educational Rights are Articles 29 and 30, protecting the conservation of distinct language, script and culture and the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. The Right to Constitutional Remedies is Article 32, which Dr Ambedkar called the heart and soul of the Constitution and under which the Supreme Court may issue the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. The right to property was originally a Fundamental Right in Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31 and was made a constitutional right in Article 300A by the Forty-fourth Amendment Act of 1978.

State PCS 2021 Q72 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q72 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer