Tag: Polity

Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties for Indian Citizens

India is well-known for its cultural diversity. This great nation’s identity is formed by many religions, cultures, and languages. Along with this diversity, India has been the site of several significant political movements. The struggle for independence from British rule was one of these movements. Following our country’s independence in 1947, our leaders worked tirelessly to draught a constitution that would protect the rights of all citizens. The Indian Constitution is a document that discusses the fundamental rights and duties of Indian citizens. In this article, we will look at these fundamental rights in greater detail!

Picture Courtesy – https://www.nicholls.edu/

What are the fundamental rights?

The fundamental rights are the fundamental rights guaranteed to all Indian citizens by the Constitution. Part III of the Constitution enshrines these rights ( Articles 12-35). Fundamental rights are not absolute, but are subject to reasonable limitations. Every Indian citizen is guaranteed seven fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution.
Article 12-35 of the Indian constitution establishes seven fundamental rights. It includes the right to equality (Article 14-18), the right to freedom (Article 19-22), the right against exploitation (Article 23-24), the right to religious freedom (Article 25-28), cultural and educational rights (Article 29-30), the right to property (Article 31), and the right to constitutional remedies (Article 32). (Article 32). Courts have the authority to enforce fundamental rights, subject to reasonable limitations.
  • Right to Equality (Article 14-18): The right to equality includes the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of caste, race, place of birth, sex, religion, and equal opportunity for employment.
  • Right to Freedom (Article 19-22): These rights include the freedom to speak freely and express yourself, the right to form associations, unions, or cooperatives, the right to move, reside, and work.
  • Right against Exploitation (Articles 23-24): This includes protection from human trafficking and forced labor.
  • Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25-28): This right includes the freedom to choose, practice, and promote the religion of your choice.
  • Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29-30): These rights include the right to protect minorities’ interests as well as the right to preserve their language, script, or culture.
  • Right to Property (Article 31): The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 abolished this right and replaced it with a legal right under Article 300A.
  • Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32): This is the most important right because it grants the authority to petition the Supreme Court for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
  • Fundamental rights are not absolute, but are subject to reasonable limitations, as stated in the constitution. Except in declared emergencies, these rights cannot be waived.

What are the fundamental duties under the Indian constitution?

The fundamental duties of citizens under the Indian Constitution are mentioned in Part IVA of the constitution. They were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. The amendment was done to instill a sense of patriotism and national pride in the citizens. There are ten fundamental duties mentioned in the constitution.
These fundamental duties are not enforceable by law but the constitution aims to inculcate a sense of duty in every citizen. Some of the fundamental duties include:
 
– protect our composite culture’s rich heritage; 
– protect our country and provide national service whenever the government requests it.
– promote harmony and a sense of common brotherhood among the people of India, regardless of regional, linguistic, or religious differences.
– value and preserve our country’s rich biodiversity; 
– protect mother earth as well as rivers, wildlife, forests, and lakes.
– protect public property and avoid violence;
Apart from the fundamental duties mentioned above, Indian citizens are also required to perform additional duties.

Differences between fundamental rights and fundamental duties:

The major difference between fundamental rights and fundamental duties is that fundamental duties are binding on all citizens, whereas fundamental rights are not.
–The Fundamental Rights, as defined in Part III of the Constitution, are all citizens’ basic civil and political rights. 
– The Fundamental Duties, as defined in Part IVA of the Constitution, are non-mandatory obligations that are regarded as moral obligations. 
– The courts can enforce the Fundamental Rights, but not the Fundamental Duties. 
– The Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution recently, whereas the Fundamental Rights have been present since its inception.

Conclusion:

The Fundamental Rights are a set of rights to which all Indian citizens are entitled. These rights are enshrined in the Indian Constitution and protect the individual from abuse by both the government and private individuals and organizations. I tried to outline the seven fundamental rights that all Indians have, define fundamental duties, and differentiate between fundamental rights and fundamental duties in this blog post.

One nation, One election

                                                                       (Photo: Think India)

“One nation, one election”, might sound good as well as appealing, but it will have a number of anti-democratic consequences. It’s true saying that simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and State Assembly could save time, energy and money of our country, but on the other side it can prove to be harmful for our country as well as democracy.

Apart from logical considerations, which cannot be a serious reason for a major change to the basic structure of the Indian polity, the most seductive argument in favor of simultaneous elections is the allure of Modi’s phrase, “One nation, one election.” This matches the “one nation, one tax” rationale for the goods and services tax (GST), which, of course, came into force via its own constitutional amendment on 1 July, 2017.

While one can debate the economic costs and benefits of GST, the analogy with elections is logically flawed. Indeed, the concept of simultaneous elections fundamentally runs against the grin of our Westminster-style federal political union. “One nation, one election” would make sense if India were a unitary state. But we are a union of states, which is philosophically and politically an essentially different conception of the Indian nation-state. With this, let us discuss the disadvantages of holding simultaneous elections in India:

  • Rule by the majority is the cardinal principle of Indian democracy. The concept of simultaneous elections goes against this principle since if elections are held simultaneously then the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies cannot be dissolved before completing their full period of 5 years even if the ruling party is reduced to a minority hence it will go against the federal principles.
  •  It will disown today’s reality of fragmented quality at the state level where coalitions are the order of the day. So, simultaneous elections try to bring in the presidential type of governance where the state assembly is no longer can decide their own path and have to be in existence for 5 years with a minority party in power.
  • Even if elections were to take place simultaneously, parties contesting in only one state would anyway be similarly burdened. So, it probably takes care of only national parties. And the logistic requirement of movement of the requisite security forces. This constant would remain even if simultaneous elections were held.

So, it can be said that holding simultaneous elections is certainly desirable but not feasible. The question which arises is, “Why should the states suffer from the electoral decisions taken at the centre?” It has been said that simultaneous elections would curtail government expenditure but the election commission has updated that for this it would require the procurement of 24 lakh EVMs and an equal number of VVPAT units which is double the number required to hold only parliamentary polls. So, the first objective is not met.

Therefore, notwithstanding the benefits of simultaneous elections highlighted above, the cost to the Indian democracy in terms of playing havoc with the cardinal principle of rule by the majority will be far more than any savings to be realized to the public exchequer. Rather other alternatives should be explored to reduce election-related expenses like state funding of elections, decriminalization of politics, bringing in transparency in political funding by linking Aadhaar card to the election Identity card which has still not been done, etc.