Constitution, Social Justice and Human Rights Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The United Agency for Human Rights is not an international human rights agency.

No organisation of that name exists; it is a made-up title close to real UN bodies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The other three are real. Amnesty International USA is the American section of Amnesty International. Human Rights Watch investigates abuses worldwide. The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, founded in New York in 1978, works on refugee and human rights law and was renamed Human Rights First in 2003.

Answer: C

UNHCR stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Created in 1950, the UN Refugee Agency protects refugees, forcibly displaced people and stateless persons, and helps them return home, integrate or resettle. It has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The other expansions are wrong in two ways: 'High Commission' rather than 'High Commissioner', and 'Relief', 'Rehabilitation' or 'Human Rights' rather than 'Refugees'. Human rights fall under a separate office, the OHCHR.

Answer: A

Social justice denotes equal treatment of all citizens without any social distinction.

Social justice means removing inequalities based on caste, class, religion, sex or birth, so that every citizen is treated equally and has fair access to opportunities. The Preamble and the Directive Principles of the Constitution express this ideal.

Voting rights without religious or gender distinction, and educational rights without economic distinction, are particular rights. Each covers only one sphere and one kind of discrimination, while the first option states the general principle.

Answer: C

The Directive Principles of State Policy are defined in Part IV of the Indian Constitution.

Part IV, Articles 36 to 51, lays down principles the state must apply in making laws, such as adequate livelihood, equal pay for equal work and free legal aid. They are not enforceable in courts but are fundamental in governance.

Part III contains the Fundamental Rights, Part II deals with citizenship, and Part I with the Union and its territory.

Answer: C

The Constitution declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.

These are the words of the Preamble. 'Socialist' and 'secular' were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976; the original text read 'sovereign democratic republic'.

'Religious' contradicts the secular character of the state. 'Federal' and 'parliamentary' describe features of the Indian system but are not words of the Preamble's declaration.

Answer: A

The Constitution sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens.

Fundamental Rights are in Part III, Directive Principles in Part IV, and Fundamental Duties of citizens in Part IVA, Article 51A, added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. They include respecting the Constitution, promoting harmony and protecting the environment.

The Constitution has no chapter of 'duties' of governments, the judiciary or Parliament set alongside these; their powers and functions are laid out in other Parts.

Answer: C

Article 42 stresses securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.

Article 42, a Directive Principle, reads: 'The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.' Laws such as the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 give effect to it.

Article 42 does not mention persons with disabilities or the transgender population, and the right to work and public assistance belongs to Article 41, not to an employment guarantee in Article 42.

Answer: A

Fundamental duties were added by The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976.

On the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, the 42nd Amendment inserted Part IVA, with Article 51A, listing ten fundamental duties of citizens. An eleventh duty, on providing opportunities for education to children aged six to fourteen, was added by the 86th Amendment in 2002.

The 43rd and 44th Amendments were passed by the Janata government in 1977 and 1978 to undo parts of the 42nd, and the 45th Amendment (1980) extended reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. None of them added duties, and the years printed with them in options B and C do not match.

Answer: C

The writ is issued under Article 32.

Article 32 gives every person the right to move the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights and empowers the Court to issue writs, including mandamus, for that purpose. Dr Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution. (High Courts have a parallel and wider power under Article 226.)

Article 30 protects the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. Article 31 dealt with the right to property and was repealed by the 44th Amendment. Article 33 lets Parliament restrict fundamental rights of the armed forces and police. None of them is the remedy article.

Answer: A

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948.

The UN General Assembly adopted it in Paris on 10 December 1948. That date is observed every year as Human Rights Day. The Declaration was drafted by the Commission on Human Rights chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, and it sets out civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all people.

1947 is when the Commission began drafting. 1950 is when the General Assembly formally invited states to observe Human Rights Day on 10 December. 1957 has no link with the Declaration.