Introduction To The Constitution MCQ Questions and Answers

All the above provisions of the Constitution of India, have a bearing on Education.
Directive Principles of State Policy – Article 45: To provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years. 86th Amendment changed the subject-matter of Article 45 and made elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21 A.

Rural and Urban Local Bodies – Education is one of the subject matters under Schedules XI and XII. It empowers local bodies to take steps to improve educational standards in their regions.

Fifth and Sixth Schedule – The Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the constitution provide protection to the tribals on account of their economic disadvantages so that they could maintain their tribal identity without any coercion or exploitation. Th is includes promotion of education in their own language for their uplift ment.

Seventh Schedule – Under this, education is put under the concurrent list which allows both centre and states to make laws on the subject.

PESA Act is a Central legislation that extends the Provisions of the Panchayats, as given in Part IX of the Constitution to the Fifth Schedule Areas with certain modifi cations and exemptions. These areas have preponderance of tribal population. This Act is called “The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996”.In short form this is popular as “PESA”.

The States with Fifth Schedule Areas that are covered under PESA are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

The PESA Act was enacted to extend the provisions of 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts to the Fifth Schedule areas. Thus, it was meant to provide institutions of local self-governance in the Scheduled Areas and to recognise the traditional rights of the tribals. The provisions of this Act address some of the most complex problems of exploitation and marginalisation of the tribals.

The act did not have any provisions of creating any autonomous regions.

Economic justice denotes the non-discrimination between people on the basis of economic factors. It involves the elimination of glaring inequalities in wealth, income and property. A combination of social justice and economic justice denotes what is known as ‘distributive justice’.

The term ‘justice’ in the Preamble embraces three distinct forms—social, economic and political, secured through various provisions of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.

The concept of Economic Justice is also mentioned under the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 39 says that the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards
securing— (a) that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood; (b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; (c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; (d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.

In the context of India, there are mainly two principles which can be implied institutionally in the Parliamentary form of government:

Statement 1 is correct. A Member of the Cabinet must be a Member of the Parliament. If a person who is not a member of the parliament and is appointed as a minister then he/she has to get elected to either of the two houses of parliament within six months.

Statement 2 is correct. In a parliamentary form of government, the council of ministers hold offi ce till they enjoy the confi dence of the parliament (in India’s case that of Lok Sabha). Hence, Ministers hold the offi ce till they enjoy confi dence in the Parliament.

Statemet 3 is incorrect. The President is Head of the State in India, whereas the Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister of India.

The Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law’ was inserted by the 52nd Amendment (1985) to the Constitution. It was formulated to bring stability in the Indian political system. The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (which embodies the anti-defection law) is designed to prevent the evil or mischief of political defections motivated by the lure of office or material benefi ts or other similar considerations.It is intended to strengthen the fabric of Indian parliamentary democracy by curbing unprincipled and unethical political defections.

The word democracy comes from the Greek word “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos” meaning power; so, democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”: a way of governing which depends on the will of the people.

The most obvious ways to participate in government are to vote, or to stand for office and become a representative of the people. Democracy, however, is about far more than just voting, and there are numerous other ways of engaging with politics and government. The eff ective functioning of democracy, in fact, depends on ordinary people using these other means as much as possible. The take-off point for a democracy is the idea of consent, i.e., the desire, approval and participation of people. It is the decision of people that creates a democratic government and decides about its functioning. So, since democracy requires voter’s decision making- hence intelligence and character of common people are called in.

The mind of the makers of the Constitution of India is refl ected in the Preamble. The Preamble to a Constitution embodies the fundamental values and the philosophy, on which the Constitution is based. It embodies the aims and objectives, which the founding fathers of the Constitution enjoined the polity to strive to achieve.

The Preamble embodies the basic philosophy and fundamental values–political, moral and religious–on which the Constitution is based. It contains the grand and noble vision of the Constituent Assembly, and refl ects the dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the Constitution. In the words of Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer, a member of the Constituent Assembly who played a signifi cant role in making the Constitution, ‘The Preamble to our Constitution expresses what we had thought or dreamt so long’.

The text of the Preamble of the Constitution of India reads
as –
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST
SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT
AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Thus, Preamble to the Constitution of India embodies liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship
but not economic liberty.

“Equality means equal rights for all the people and the abolition of all special rights and privileges”. -Barker
Thus, negatively equality implies abolition of all special privileges and facilities which may be available to
some classes or some persons in society. It also stands for the abolition of all man-made inequalities and discriminations. Positively Equality stands for equal rights,
equitable distribution of resources, equal opportunities for development and relative equality with due recognition of merit, abilities and capacities of various persons.

Knowledge Base) Privileges mean a special advantage to only a particular person/ group. Equality requires the state of being equal, particularly in standing, rights, or opportunities and thus absence of any privileges.

In society there are present two types of inequalities:
1) Natural inequalities, and
2) Man-made unnatural inequalities.

The former means natural diff erences among human beings. These have to be accepted by all. The man-made inequalities are those which are there because of some social conditions and discriminations. These are of the nature of socioeconomic inequalities resulting from the operation of social system. The discriminations practiced and inequalities maintained in the name of caste, colour, creed, religion, sex, place of birth and the like are all
unnatural man- made inequalities. Equality means end of all such inequalities and discriminations.

Statement 1 is correct. The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts. Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial
review. The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951, when the document was amended for the fi rst time. The Parliament has the power to place a particular law
in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The mandate of ninth schedule
is to prevent judicial scrutiny but in a landmark ruling in IR Coelho versus State of Tamil Nadu, 2007, the Supreme Court of India ruled that all laws (including those in the Ninth Schedule) would be open to Judicial Review if they violated the basic structure of the constitution.
The Supreme Court judgment laid that the laws placed under Ninth Schedule aft er April 24, 1973 shall be open to challenge in court if they violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution.

In order to understand the concept of rule of law, it is to be comprehended that the state is governed not by the ruler or the nominated representatives of the people but by the law. The term ‘Rule of Law’ is nowhere defi ned in the Indian Constitution but this term is often used by the Indian judiciary in their judgments. Rule of law has been declared by the Supreme Court as one of the basic features of the Constitution so it cannot be amended even by the constitutional amendment. Rule of law is seen as an integral part of good governance.

The “Rule of Law” is a principle of governance which implies that the creation of laws, their enforcement, and the relationships among legal rules are themselves legally regulated, so that no one—including the most highly placed offi cial—is above the law. Thus, ensuring equality before law. (Option 2 is correct)

People’s responsibility to the Government cannot be attributed to “Rule of Law”. (Option 3 is incorrect)
Limitation of powers ensures no man is punished except for a breach of law, thus restricting discretion of the government of the day. It would also help in safeguarding rights of the individual. (Option 1 and 4 are correct)

First Constitutional (Amendment) Act of 1951, introduced the Ninth Schedule in the Constitution of India during the prime-ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru.

This amendment made laws placed in Ninth Schedule immune to judicial review, even if they violate any Fundamental Rights.

The Ninth Schedule was brought in the Indian Constitution on 18 June 1951 to abolish Zamindari system. The Ninth Schedule contains a list of laws that cannot be challenged
in courts. Out of 284 such laws which are shielded from judicial review, 90 per cent of laws are about agriculture and landholding.

Articles under Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Articles 1 and 2 reaffi rms human dignity, equality and brotherhood.

Articles 3-11 are the rights of the individual: the right to life, outlawing of slavery or torture, equality before the law, the right to a fair trial etc.

Articles 12-17 includes freedom of movement, the right to a nationality, the right to marry and found a family, as well as the right to own property.

Articles 18-21 are the spiritual and religious rights of individuals, such as freedom of thought and conscience (religion), the right to your own opinion, the right to peaceful assembly and association, and the right to vote and take part in government.

Articles 22-27 includes the right to work, the right to rest and leisure, the right to a decent standard of living, and the right to education.

Articles 28-30 remind us that rights come with obligations and that none of the rights mentioned in the UDHR can be used to violate the spirit of the United Nations.

Indian constitution was greatly infl uenced by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Part III which stands for Fundamental Rights and Part IV for Directive
Principles of State Policy bear a close resemblance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The preamble also provides for social, economic, political, justice, as enshrined in UDHR and Article 28, 29 of UHDR, resemble the Fundamental Duties.

Option d is correct. Bureaucracy is the executive arm of the government. In traditional classical literature on organs of government, one studied the legislature, the executive and the judiciary with bureaucracy being subsumed under the executive (which comprises the
political establishment and the bureaucracy). Now, one fi nds that bureaucracy is being treated separately and this is indicative of its growing importance.

Bureaucracy refers to an administrative policyimplementation group, which is a body of non-elected government offi cials. The major objective of bureaucracy in India has not been Parliamentary democracy’s expansion but rather the implementation of the decisions taken by the executive. With All India Services at the helm of major bureaucratic structure, it cannot be said that strengthening of federal structure is its main characteristic.

India’s bureaucratic system’s most important functionsince independence has been implementation of public policy, making the decisions of the government reach a conclusion on the ground level. Parliamentary democracy results oft en in change at the helm of executive, the static and permanent bureaucracy provides continuity of policies and execution rather than political stability.

A constitutional government by defi nition is a limited government. A constitutional government is the one that is defi ned by the constitution of the country. Constitution of a country is supreme law of the land; it is empowered with the sovereign authority of the people (we the people) by the framers and the consent of the legislatures of the states. It is the source of all government powers, and also provides important limitations on the government that protect the fundamental rights of citizens.

The Preamble to a Constitution embodies the fundamental values and the philosophy, on which the Constitution is based, and the aims and objectives, which the founding
fathers of the Constitution enjoined the polity to strive to achieve.

The Supreme Court in the Berubari Union case (1960) held that the “Preamble is not a part of the Constitution.” It further said the Preamble can be used as a guiding
principle if a term in any article of the Constitution is ambiguous or has more than one meaning.

Later in Kesavanand Bharti case (1973), the Supreme Court reversed its ruling and held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and can also be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution. Preamble, therefore, is a part of the Constitution.

The preamble states the objects of the Constitution and is not enforceable in court thus has no legal eff ect independently of other parts.

The Separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary constitute an important safeguard of liberty in a liberal democracy. The doctrine of
Separation of powers entails the division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government among diff erent organs. This separation minimizes the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government, since all the three organs act as check and balance on the powers of each other. Therefore, none of the three organs can usurp the essential functions of other organs.

This demarcation prevents the concentration of excessive power by any branch of the Government. It thus helps to safeguard the liberty and rights of the people in a democracy.