Which fundamental duty applies on you when you see a few school students, on their educational trip to Humayun’s tomb, writing their names on the walls?

Correct — D. The act you are watching is defacement of a monument, and the duty that names that act is Article 51A(i): to safeguard public property and to abjure violence.

Humayun's Tomb is a centrally protected monument in the custody of the Archaeological Survey of India, so the walls being written on are public property in the plainest sense.

Match the act to the duty that names it. Scribbling on a protected wall is damage to public property, so option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India — Sovereignty, unity and integrity is Article 51A(c). It speaks to threats against the nation's political integrity, not to damage done to a building.
• (b)
  To defend the country and render national service — Article 51A(d) is to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so — military and civic service, not vandalism by visitors.
• (c)
  To protect and improve the natural environment — Article 51A(g) covers the natural environment: forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife. A built monument is heritage and property, not natural environment.

Fundamental Duties sit in Part IVA, Article 51A of the Constitution. They were inserted by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation.

The eleventh duty — a parent's duty to provide education to a child aged six to fourteen — was added later, by the 86th Amendment (2002).

They are not justiciable: no court will enforce a duty on you the way it enforces a Fundamental Right. Their exam value is the matching exercise this question runs, act against clause.

Key facts

• Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, and are listed in Article 51A.
• Article 51A(i) reads: to safeguard public property and to abjure violence.
• The eleventh Fundamental Duty, on a parent providing education to a child aged six to fourteen, came with the 86th Amendment, 2002.
• Humayun's Tomb in Delhi is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993.

Common traps

• Choosing the environment clause because a heritage site feels like something to be preserved. Article 51A(g) names the natural environment only.
• Assuming a Fundamental Duty can be enforced by writ. It cannot, though ordinary statutes penalise many of the same acts.
• Confusing Article 51A with Article 51, which is about promotion of international peace and belongs to the Directive Principles.

No directly related past PYQ was found.