SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 18 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 16 of 99

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.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Part IV A of the Indian Constitution was inserted in the Indian Constitution through _____________ Constitutional Amendment Act.

(a)44
(b)46
(c)42
(d)48

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Part IV A holds a single article, Article 51A, the Fundamental Duties. It entered the Constitution through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.

Ten duties came in at that point. An eleventh — a parent's or guardian's duty to provide education to a child aged six to fourteen — was added later by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002. Option (c) is the inserting amendment.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
44 — The 44th Amendment, 1978 is the partial undoing of the 42nd: it removed the right to property from Fundamental Rights and left it a legal right under Article 300A.
(b)
46 — The 46th Amendment, 1982 reworked the states' power to tax sales, amending Articles 269 and 366. It does not touch duties.
(d)
48 — The 48th Amendment, 1984 did one narrow job — it let Parliament extend the Proclamation of President's rule in Punjab under Article 356.

Concept

Fundamental Duties are the non-justiciable side of the citizen's obligations.

No court will issue a writ to enforce Article 51A by itself, but Parliament may pass a law giving a duty teeth, and courts read the duties when interpreting Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.

The 42nd Amendment is the largest single amendment in the Constitution's life, often called the Mini-Constitution, and Part IV A is only one of the things it did. The Swaran Singh Committee had also proposed penalties for non-compliance, which Parliament did not include.

Part IV and Part IV A sit next to each other and get confused. Part IV is the Directive Principles of State Policy, Articles 36 to 51. Part IV A is Fundamental Duties, Article 51A. The 42nd Amendment worked on both.

Key facts

Part IV A contains only Article 51A, the Fundamental Duties.
The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted Part IV A on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation.
Ten duties were listed in 1976. The eleventh, on educating a child aged six to fourteen, came with the 86th Amendment Act, 2002.
Fundamental Duties are not enforceable in a court by themselves.

Study next

The clauses of Article 51A, from 51A(a) to 51A(k), and what each one namesThe Justice Verma Committee on operationalising Fundamental DutiesWhat else the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 changed

Common traps

Answering 44 because the 42nd and 44th Amendments are always taught as a pair.
Counting eleven duties as original when the eleventh arrived in 2002.

SSC comes at Fundamental Duties from several sides in this corpus: the article number (also asked 10 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q18, keyed Article 51A) and which item is NOT a duty (12 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q13).

It also maps a situation to a clause (13 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q21, keyed Article 51A(k)) and asks for the committee behind their implementation (24 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q7, Justice Verma Committee). The same 42nd Amendment is asked from the Directive Principles side on 23 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q23.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.