SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 18 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 2 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 10 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.

Which of the following is NOT a feature of the Constitution of India?

(a)Independent Judiciary
(b)Universal Adult Franchise
(c)Dual Citizenship
(d)Blend of rigidity & flexibility

Answer

Why

Correct — C. India gives its people single citizenship. You are a citizen of India, not additionally a citizen of Maharashtra or of Bihar.

Federal states such as the United States do grant dual citizenship, one national and one of the state. The Constitution deliberately did not, so that rights and allegiance stay uniform across the country.

The other three are genuine features: an independent judiciary, universal adult franchise, and a Constitution that blends rigidity with flexibility. The one that does not belong is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Independent Judiciary — An independent judiciary is a feature, secured by fixed service conditions for judges and a difficult removal procedure. Being a real feature, it cannot answer a NOT question.
(b)
Universal Adult Franchise — Universal adult franchise is a feature. Every citizen above the qualifying age votes, with no property, literacy or gender qualification attached.
(d)
Blend of rigidity & flexibility — A blend of rigidity and flexibility is a feature. Some provisions amend by a simple parliamentary majority, while others need a special majority plus ratification by half the states.

Concept

Single citizenship means the Constitution recognises one citizenship for the whole territory, however federal the rest of the arrangement is.

The choice was deliberate. A separate state citizenship would let states discriminate between their own people and Indians from elsewhere, and the framers wanted rights, allegiance and mobility to be uniform.

Citizenship itself is dealt with in Part II, Articles 5 to 11, which fixes who was a citizen when the Constitution commenced and leaves the rest to Parliament, which legislated the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The Overseas Citizen of India card is often mistaken for dual citizenship. It is a long-term entry and residence status. An OCI cardholder is not an Indian citizen and does not vote.

Key facts

India follows single citizenship, so there is no separate citizenship of a state.
Citizenship is dealt with in Part II of the Constitution, Articles 5 to 11.
The voting age was lowered from 21 years to 18 by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.
Amending the Constitution needs different majorities for different provisions, which is what makes it partly rigid and partly flexible.

Study next

Part II of the Constitution and the Citizenship Act, 1955Overseas Citizen of India status and how it differs from citizenshipWhich features of the Constitution were borrowed from which country

Common traps

Treating the OCI card as a second citizenship.
Ticking the feature you know best instead of the one the stem says is NOT a feature.

Feature-spotting on the Constitution turns up in other shifts too: the borrowed-feature version at 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.5, which traces Directive Principles to Ireland, and an INCORRECT-statement question on Fundamental Rights at 24 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.15.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.