Directive Principles & Fundamental Duties Quiz: Indian Polity Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. In which Part and Articles of the Constitution are the Directive Principles of State Policy contained?

   • Part IV, Articles 36–51
   • Part III, Articles 12–35
   • Part IVA, Article 51A
   • Part V, Articles 52–151

   Answer: Part IV, Articles 36–51. Part IV holds the DPSPs. Part III has Fundamental Rights and Part IVA has the Fundamental Duties.

2. Which Article declares that the Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court but are fundamental in the governance of the country?

   • Article 36
   • Article 38
   • Article 37
   • Article 51

   Answer: Article 37. Article 37 states their non-justiciable but fundamental character and makes applying them a duty of the State. Article 36 only defines "State".

3. Which Article directs the State to endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for citizens throughout India?

   • Article 40
   • Article 44
   • Article 45
   • Article 48

   Answer: Article 44. Article 44 is the Uniform Civil Code provision, classed among the liberal-intellectual principles.

4. Which of the following Directive Principles is usually classified as Gandhian?

   • Equal pay for equal work for men and women (Article 39)
   • Uniform Civil Code (Article 44)
   • Separation of judiciary from executive (Article 50)
   • Organisation of village panchayats (Article 40)

   Answer: Organisation of village panchayats (Article 40). Village self-government reflects Gandhi's ideas. Equal pay is a socialist principle; the UCC and separation of judiciary are liberal-intellectual.

5. Which of the following Directive Principles was NOT added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976?

   • Equal justice and free legal aid (Article 39A)
   • Workers' participation in management (Article 43A)
   • Protection of environment and wildlife (Article 48A)
   • Promotion of cooperative societies (Article 43B)

   Answer: Promotion of cooperative societies (Article 43B). Article 43B on cooperatives was added by the 97th Amendment in 2011. The other three came in 1976.

6. Article 50 of the Constitution directs the State to:

   • promote international peace and security
   • separate the judiciary from the executive in public services
   • protect monuments of national importance
   • organise agriculture on modern scientific lines

   Answer: separate the judiciary from the executive in public services. Article 50 aims at judicial independence at the lower levels. International peace is Article 51, monuments Article 49 and agriculture Article 48.

7. In which case did the Supreme Court hold that harmony and balance between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles is a basic feature of the Constitution?

   • Champakam Dorairajan case, 1951
   • Golak Nath case, 1967
   • Minerva Mills case, 1980
   • Shankari Prasad case, 1951

   Answer: Minerva Mills case, 1980. Minerva Mills struck down the 42nd Amendment's attempt to give all DPSPs primacy over Articles 14 and 19. Champakam Dorairajan had held that FRs prevail in a conflict.

8. Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution on the recommendation of the:

   • Swaran Singh Committee
   • Sarkaria Commission
   • Verma Committee
   • Balwant Rai Mehta Committee

   Answer: Swaran Singh Committee. The Swaran Singh Committee (1976) led to Part IVA through the 42nd Amendment. The Verma Committee (1999) later looked at how existing laws enforce some duties.

9. The eleventh Fundamental Duty, added by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002, requires citizens to:

   • cast their vote in every general election
   • provide opportunities for education to their child aged six to fourteen, as parent or guardian
   • pay their taxes honestly and on time
   • respect the National Song and the National Emblem

   Answer: provide opportunities for education to their child aged six to fourteen, as parent or guardian. Article 51A(k) places this duty on parents and guardians. Voting and paying taxes are not listed duties, and the National Song is not mentioned.

10. Consider the following statements: 1. Fundamental Duties apply only to citizens. 2. Fundamental Duties are enforceable through writs in the Supreme Court. 3. The idea of Fundamental Duties was borrowed from the Constitution of the erstwhile USSR. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    • 1 only
    • 1 and 3 only
    • 2 and 3 only
    • 1, 2 and 3

    Answer: 1 and 3 only. Duties bind citizens only and were inspired by the USSR, but they are non-justiciable: courts cannot issue writs to enforce them directly.