Fundamental Duties

Fundamental Duties remind citizens that constitutional life carries responsibilities, not just rights. This page is a quick-reference summary — for the full guide, see Polity0001.

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Polity0046 · Indian Polity & Constitution

Fundamental Duties

Rights come paired with civic responsibility, added years after 1950

Added by

42nd Amendment1976

Total duties

1186th Amendment added the 11th

Legal status

Non-justiciableLike DPSPs

Origins & Structure

• Added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, per the Swaran Singh Committee.
• Listed under Article 51A, in Part IVA.
• The 86th Amendment (2002) added an eleventh duty.
• Binding upon every citizen of India.

Content & Nature

• One duty calls for scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry.
• The eleventh duty requires parents to provide educational opportunities.
• Like Directive Principles, they are generally non-justiciable.
• Courts have occasionally cited them as interpretive guidance.

Absent From 1950

India’s original 1950 Constitution did not include Fundamental Duties at all, showing how constitutional design evolved through later debate.

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Must Know

• Fundamental Duties, listed under Article 51A, were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, based on the Swaran Singh Committee’s recommendations.
• The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 added an eleventh duty, bringing the total from ten to eleven Fundamental Duties.
• Fundamental Duties are addressed to and binding upon every citizen of India, and are generally non-justiciable.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 added which duty to the original list of Fundamental Duties?

Duty to develop scientific temper

Duty of a parent or guardian to provide education opportunities to a child between 6 and 14 years

Duty to protect wildlife

Duty to safeguard public property

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