What are the fundamental duties of citizens given in the Indian Constitution and what is their importance?

Fundamental Duties of Citizens given in Indian Constitution

 According to Article 51 (a) of the Indian Constitution, both rights and duties are concomitant with each other.  Both are interdependent on each other.  Both of them have 'choli-daman' together.  The two cannot be separated from each other.  One cannot be imagined without the other.  Where there are rights, there are duties also.  One's right is another's duty.  Rights without duties are meaningless.  The same thing applies in law also.  In almost every law, along with rights, duties are also mentioned.  It is a different matter that duties were not mentioned in the Constitution in the beginning.  There has been a reason for this also.  India remained in a state of slavery for a long time.  The mentality of the Indians remained underdeveloped and it always remained in the performance of duty.  Therefore, in these circumstances, merely mentioning the rights in the Constitution was psychological therapy for the Indians.  This does not mean that Indians were not ready for duties at that time.  India has always believed in karma.

                       

  In this context, it would be appropriate to note here that 'Fundamental Duties' have not been clearly mentioned in any democratic constitution of the world.  Japan is the only exception to this.  In countries like Britain, Canada, Australia, America etc. it is the product of common law or judicial decisions.  Whereas in the countries called communist, special emphasis has been given on fundamental duties rather than fundamental rights.  There is a detailed discussion of fundamental duties in the Constitution of Russia.  There it is considered to be the basic duty of every citizen to-

 (a) obey the Constitution;

 (b) Comply with the laws of the country;

  (c) Maintain discipline among workers;

 (d) protect the public property of the country;

 (e) protect the country;  Etcetera.

      These fundamental duties can be said to be exemplary for all.  In the same tradition, here too, Part 4A was added to the Constitution by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 and by inserting a new Article 51A, certain fundamental duties of Indian citizens were determined.

    

Although there is no provision for punishment in the Constitution for breach of these duties, such a provision can be made.  At present, only moral responsibility, fear and force are behind them.

            It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to-

 (a) Adhere to the Constitution and respect its ideals, institutions, national flag and national anthem,

  (b) Keep in mind the ideals that inspired our national movement for independence and follow them.

  (c) To protect and preserve the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.

 (d) To defend the country and serve the nation when called upon;

  (e) To create a feeling of harmony and common brotherhood among all the people of India transcending all discrimination based on religion, language and region or class;  Abandon such practices which are against the dignity of women;

(f) Understand and examine the importance of the glorious tradition of our social culture.

  (g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and other wild life and to have compassion for all living beings;

  (h) To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of learning and reform;

  (i) To keep public property safe and to abstain from violence,

  (j) Make continuous efforts to move towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activities so that the nation may continuously reach new heights of endeavor and achievement.

  (k) It shall be the duty of the parents and guardians of children between the age of 6 years to 14 years to provide them opportunities for education.

                                             (Article 51A)

 All the fundamental duties inspire to keep national unity, integrity and sovereignty intact, give the message of protecting morality and humanity and teach the lesson of kindness and compassion towards living beings.  It is steeped in national and humanitarian sentiments;  Not out of personal interests.

It is the duty of every citizen to-

 Respect (1) the Constitution;  (ii) of the national flag, and (iii) of the national anthem.

 Follow- (i) The high ideals that inspire the national movement.

  Protect- (i) the country;  (ii) Unity, integrity and sovereignty of India, and (iii) Forests, lakes, rivers and wild animals.

  Serve - (i) the nation.

 Abandon - (i) practices against the dignity of women;  And (ii) Discrimination on the basis of religion, language, region or class.

 Have compassion - (i) towards all living beings.

  Protect (1) Public property.

  Stay away from – (1) Violence.

  Develop- (i) scientific attitude;

  Create- (i) A feeling of harmony and common brotherhood among all the people of India.

  Endeavor – (i) To move towards excellence in all spheres of personal and collective activities.

 It is not only a legal but also a moral responsibility of every Indian citizen to respect and honor the 'National Anthem'.  The national anthem is a symbol of pride for the entire culture of the nation.  It neither respects nor ignores any religion or caste.  Still, it is regrettable that today its constitutionality has been questioned.

N.  R.  In the case of Narayanamurthy vs. Kannada Rakshad Bakilara Bedike, it has been held by the Karnataka High Court that the national anthem can be sung by musical instruments i.e. musical instruments.  Doing so is not prohibited.

        As far as respect for women is concerned;  Indian women are still victims of many evils, these evils are against women's dignity.  Let us stop the practice of 'Sati'.  The practice of Sati is considered a part of religion and due to this superstition, many women burn themselves to ashes along with their husbands in the funeral pyre.  Is this fair?  No civilized society will be ready to accept this as justified.  Rajasthan is considered to be the stronghold of Satis.  This practice is more prevalent among the Rajput women here.  Just recently, the Sati incident of Divarala shook the entire human community.  This culminated in the applicability of 'Rajasthan Sati (Prevention) Act 1987'.  This includes attempts to commit sati;  abetment;  Glorification, etc., has been declared a punishable offense and the Rajasthan High Court has held it constitutional.

       An important case regarding the dignity of women is Meenu Sharma vs. State.  In this, it has been held by the Delhi High Court that summoning the evidence of a minor girl to prove illicit relations is not a violation of the dignity of women.

(x) K.  Case of Nagaraj vs State of Andhra Pradesh: In this case, the newly elected Telugu Desam government of Andhra Pradesh had passed 'Andhra Pradesh Employment (Regulation of Conditions of Service) Ordinance', reducing the retirement age of government employees from 58 to 55 years.  This was challenged as arbitrary and unreasonable;  But the Supreme Court did not accept this and said that its main objective was to provide employment opportunity to the youth of the society and this decision was taken by the government after deliberations;  Therefore it is legal.

 (xi) Central Inland Water Transport Corporation vs. B.  N.  Ganguly's case: In this case an important decision was given that where there is a provision for separation of a person from service by giving three months' notice or by paying three months' salary;  There it cannot be considered constitutional unless it is given an opportunity of being heard giving reasons.  Separating a permanent employee from service without giving him an opportunity of being heard is contrary to the 'principles of natural justice'.

(xii) The case of Frank Anthony Public School Employees Association vs Union of India and others is an important case based on the principle of 'equal pay for equal work'.  In this, those provisions of 'Delhi School Education Act' were declared unconstitutional which discriminate against teachers of government aided and non-government aided educational institutions regarding salary, dismissal, promotion, dismissal, demotion and other service conditions.  Were going to do.

  (xiii) Case of Parvez Ahmed and others Aligarh Muslim University and others In this case, some students in engineering courses were stopped from appearing in the examination because of their poor attendance whereas some similar students were allowed to appear in the examination because of their poor attendance.  Permission was granted by the waiver committee.  The power to waive attendance was discretionary.  The High Court considered this to be discriminatory and directed that all students should be treated equally.

xiv) Case of Nenamal and others vs. Nenamal and others – In this case it was held that Section 6(1) (iii) of the Rajasthan Hakshafa Act is unconstitutional.  Because it confers the right to hashfa on a person simply by virtue of being a neighbor.  This system violates Articles 14 and 15.  Three things are required for Hakshafa

 (a) affecting the use and enjoyment of the property, or

 (b) The management of the property is joint or collective, or

  (c) Interference with the property by a stranger.