SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 13 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Which of the following is NOT a Fundamental Duty of the Indian citizens?

(a)To cherish and follow the noble ideas that inspired our national struggle for freedom.
(b)Mandatory national service of 5 years.
(c)To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
(d)To safeguard public property and to abjure violence.

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Mandatory national service of five years appears nowhere in Article 51A. What the Constitution asks is 'to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so' — a duty that arises on call, with no fixed term attached.

The three remaining options reproduce real clauses: the noble ideals of the freedom struggle, scientific temper, and safeguarding public property. The duty that does not exist is option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
To cherish and follow the noble ideas that inspired our national struggle for freedom. — This is Article 51A(b) almost verbatim — to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired the national struggle for freedom. It is a real duty, so it cannot answer a NOT question.
(c)
To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. — This is Article 51A(h) — to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. It is listed in the Constitution.
(d)
To safeguard public property and to abjure violence. — This is Article 51A(i) — to safeguard public property and to abjure violence. Being a Fundamental Duty, it is ruled out here.

Concept

Fundamental Duties sit in Part IVA, Article 51A, the newest of the Constitution's lists of this kind.

They were inserted by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and there were ten. An eleventh — a parent's duty to provide education to a child between six and fourteen — was added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.

They are moral obligations rather than rights enforceable in themselves, though Parliament can and does back individual duties with statute.

In a NOT question, read every option for a clause you recognise before you choose. Option (b) is built to feel constitutional, because 51A(d) does speak of national service — what it never does is make that service compulsory for a fixed number of years.

Key facts

Fundamental Duties are contained in Part IVA, Article 51A of the Constitution.
They were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.
The eleventh duty, on a parent providing education to a child aged six to fourteen, was added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.
Article 51A(d) asks a citizen to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so.

Study next

The eleven Fundamental Duties clause by clause, from 51A(a) to 51A(k)Directive Principles in Part IV, Articles 36 to 51, and how they differ from dutiesThe 42nd and 86th Amendment Acts and what else each of them changed

Common traps

Reading 51A(d) as conscription — national service is owed when called upon, not as a fixed five-year term.
Confusing Fundamental Duties with Directive Principles, which are addressed to the state rather than to the citizen.

The NOT framing recurs with a plausible non-duty planted among real clauses. At 19 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.22 the keyed non-duty is 'to prohibit trade in rare and endangered species'.

SSC also asks for the clause letter from a situation, as at 13 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.21 (a child taken to a worksite instead of school, keyed 51A(k)) and 23 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.6 (the national flag used as a desk covering, keyed 51A(a)).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.