Indian Polity & Constitution Quiz: Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties | 8th Jan, 2021

The Directive Principles resemble the ‘Instrument of Instructions’ enumerated in the Government of India Act of 1935.
•In the words of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, ‘the Directive Principles are like the instrument of instructions, which were issued to the Governor-General and to the Governors of the colonies of India by the British Government under the Government of India Act of 1935.
•What is called Directive Principles is merely another name for the instrument of instructions.
•The only difference is that they are instructions to the legislature and the executive’.
Source: Laxmikanth.

The Directive Principles constitute a very comprehensive economic, social and political programme for a modern democratic State.
•They aim at realising the high ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as outlined in the Preamble to the Constitution.
•They embody the concept of a ‘welfare state’ and not that of a ‘police state’, which existed during the colonial era.
•In brief, they seek to establish economic and social democracy in the country.
Source: Laxmikanth.

The Constitution (Article 37) itself says that these principles are fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.

To promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order permeated by justice–social, economic and political– and to minimise inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities (Article 38).
Source: Laxmikanth.

To secure
•the right to adequate means of livelihood for all citizens;
•the equitable distribution of material resources of the community for the common good;
•prevention of concentration of wealth and means of production;
•equal pay for equal work for men and women;
•preservation of the health and strength of workers and children against forcible abuse; and
•opportunities for healthy development of children (Article 39).
Source: Laxmikanth.

To organise village panchayats and endow them with necessary powers and authority to enable them to function as units of self-government (Article 40).
Source: Laxmikanth.

The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added four new Directive Principles to the original list. They require the State:
•To secure opportunities for healthy development of children (Article 39).
•To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39 A).
•To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43 A).
•To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wild life (Article 48 A).
Source: Laxmikanth.

In 1976, the Congress Party set up the Sardar Swaran Singh Committee to make recommendations about fundamental duties, the need and necessity of which was felt during the operation of the internal emergency (1975–1977).
The committee recommended the inclusion of a separate chapter on fundamental duties in the Constitution.
Source: Laxmikanth.

The Congress Government at Centre accepted these recommendations and enacted the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976.
•This amendment added a new part, namely, Part IVA to the Constitution.
•This new part consists of only one Article, that is, Article 51A which for the first time specified a code of ten fundamental duties of the citizens.
Source: Laxmikanth.

The justiciability of Fundamental Rights and non-justiciability of Directive Principles on the one hand and the moral obligation of State to implement Directive Principles (Article 37) on the other hand have led to a conflict between the two since the commencement of the Constitution.
In the Champakam Dorairajan case (1951), the Supreme Court ruled that in case of any conflict between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles, the former would prevail.
Source: Laxmikanth.