Fundamental Duties were incorporated in the Constitution on the recommendation of -

Correct — option (1), Swaran Singh Committee.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat's Journal of Parliamentary Information (July 1976) reports that on 26 February 1976 the Congress President, D. K. Borooah, appointed a Committee under the chairmanship of Swaran Singh "to study and suggest amendments to the Constitution". It submitted its final report on 22 May 1976.

The All India Congress Committee then suggested that the same Committee also formulate proposals for including in the Constitution "certain Fundamental duties and obligations which every citizen owes to the nation".

The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted Part IVA, Fundamental Duties, consisting of Article 51A, with effect from 3 January 1977. It listed ten duties, clauses (a) to (j).

The journal records that request, not the Committee's reply. Wikipedia's article on Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of India gives the link: the duties were added by the 42nd Amendment "upon the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee".

The idea to remember: Swaran Singh Committee (1976) → 42nd Amendment → Part IVA, Article 51A.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Shah Commission — The Shah Commission came after the Emergency and looked back at it. NCERT's Politics in India since Independence records that in May 1977 the Janata Party government appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice J. C. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

  It was to inquire into allegations of abuse of authority, excesses and malpractices in the wake of the Emergency proclaimed on 25 June 1975.

• (3)
  Administrative Reforms Commission — The first Administrative Reforms Commission was constituted on 5 January 1966, chaired first by Morarji Desai and later by K. Hanumanthaiah.

  Its twenty reports included one on Centre-State relationships. The Fundamental Duties came a decade later, through the Swaran Singh Committee.

• (4)
  Sănthanam Committee — The Santhanam Committee was the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, chaired by K. Santhanam, M.P. Its report is dated 31 March 1964.

  Its subject was corruption in administration, and the Central Vigilance Commission was set up in 1964 on its recommendations, twelve years before the Fundamental Duties were added.

Fundamental Duties are obligations the Constitution places on every citizen, set out in Article 51A of Part IVA. They include abiding by the Constitution and respecting the National Flag and National Anthem, upholding the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, and protecting the natural environment.

The Forty-second Amendment inserted ten duties in 1976, in force from 3 January 1977. The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 added an eleventh, clause (k), with effect from 1 April 2010.

Clause (k) makes it the duty of a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to a child or ward between six and fourteen years of age.

Key facts

• Journal of Parliamentary Information (July 1976): Congress President D. K. Borooah appointed the Swaran Singh Committee on 26 February 1976 to suggest amendments to the Constitution.
• The Committee submitted its final report on 22 May 1976; the AICC then asked it also to propose Fundamental duties of citizens.
• The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted Part IVA and Article 51A, with effect from 3 January 1977.
• The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 added clause (k) to Article 51A, with effect from 1 April 2010.
• Shah Commission: appointed in May 1977 under Justice J. C. Shah to inquire into excesses in the wake of the Emergency.

Common traps

• Linking the Shah Commission to the Emergency's constitutional changes: it was an inquiry into Emergency excesses, appointed in May 1977, after the duties were added.
• Counting ten duties as the present number: clause (k), added by the Eighty-sixth Amendment, has been in force since 1 April 2010.
• Giving the duties to the Santhanam Committee because it is another named committee: its subject was prevention of corruption.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018, 2016 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which clause of Article 51A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002?

  • (a)Clause (h)
  • (b)Clause (i)
  • (c)Clause (j)
  • (d)Clause (k)
  Answer(4) — Clause (k), the duty of a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to a child between six and fourteen, was inserted by the Eighty-sixth Amendment with effect from 1 April 2010. Options (1), (2) and (3) were among the ten duties inserted by the Forty-second Amendment.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Shah Commission, appointed in May 1977, was to inquire into

  • (a)allegations of abuse of authority, excesses and malpractices in the wake of the Emergency
  • (b)corruption in public administration
  • (c)Centre-State relations
  • (d)the inclusion of Fundamental Duties in the Constitution
  Answer(1) — NCERT records that the Commission under Justice J. C. Shah was to inquire into abuse of authority, excesses and malpractices in the wake of the Emergency of 25 June 1975. Option (2) was the Santhanam Committee's subject, option (3) one of the Administrative Reforms Commission's, and option (4) the Swaran Singh Committee's.