Many
people point out the main drawback in the country’s governance as
centralization of power in Delhi. True, this country’s problems, from day one,
post-independence, can be sourced to centralization of power and resources. It
does not start or end with government or governance.
Power
and money are consciously centralised in India, right from the central
government to the smallest political party fighting elections. Perhaps Mahatma
Gandhi knew this when he pleaded for the dismantling of the Congress, as he was
sadly becoming aware that his dream of ‘Gramaswaraj’ was not being
shared by majority of the Congressmen. Success of any India-specific solution
for improving major human development indicators—literacy, hunger management,
healthcare, and housing—will depend on a decentralised approach.
Our
Constitution gives enough flexibility in governance and the clarity of guidance
for handling almost everything coming under the broad responsibilities of
legislature, executive and judiciary is perhaps unique to the Indian
Constitution. If only our political leadership in whose hands the
responsibility of administering the Constitution and introducing further
legislation for ensuring such rule of law without let or hindrance, gave the
respect due to the written words of the Constitution, we would not be going
through the present phase of quarrels among the rich and the powerful for
one-upmanship on who is less corrupt.
Keeping
the above thoughts in the backdrop, this article attempts to look at some of
the rights, responsibilities and duties of a citizen, based on the text of our
Constitution.
Rights
Most
of us are aware of our rights. Still, it will be interesting to look at them in
the context of what the authors of our Constitution had to say about them. The
Indian Constitution specifically protects rights—such as right to life, right
to education, right to work, right to property and right against exploitation.
A perusal of the following Articles of the Constitution will throw more light
on the kind of rights protected under the Constitution:
Protection
of life and personal liberty |Article
21- No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law.
Right to
education |Article
21A- The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in
such manner as the State may, by law, determine.
Right against exploitation | Article 23-
Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour-
i) Traffic in human beings and beggar and
other forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this
provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.
ii) Nothing
in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purposes, and in imposing such services the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of
them.
Right to
work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases
|Article 41- The State shall, within the limits of its
economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the
right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment,
old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want.
Provision for early childhood care and
education to children below the age of six years
| Article 45- The State
shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children
until they complete the age of six years.
Right to property |
Article
300A- No person shall be deprived of his
property, save by authority of law.
Responsibility
A
perusal of these rights enshrined in the Constitution naturally takes us to the
inevitable question as to whether these rights are really exercisable by the
citizens. Now the question arises: Who
is responsible to ensure that these rights come alive and serve the one billion
plus lives in India?
For
an answer, we have to go back to the Preamble of the Constitution, which reads:
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;
Thus, the
Constitution is given to the people of India and it is the solemn
responsibility of the Indian people to protect it. Of course, the agent of the
people carrying out this task is the government.
This has been made abundantly clear in the Constitution through a bunch of
directive principles of state policy forming part of the Constitution and
explicitly stated to be not enforceable by any court, but with a clear
direction to government to apply them in making laws.
Directive
principles of state policy
Several
areas of social justice such as gender equality, right to an adequate means of
livelihood, distributive justice, healthcare, avoidance of child labour,
protection for vulnerable sections of society against exploitation and
abandonment, equal justice, free legal aid for the needy, organization of
village panchayats, right to work, right to education, public assistance in
cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, just and humane
conditions of work and maternity relief, living wage and decent standard of
life for workers, promotion of cottage industries, workers’ participation in
management, uniform civil code for the citizens, provision for childhood care
and education to children below six years, support to scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes and weaker sections of society, raising the level of nutrition
and the standard of living of the people, improvement in public health,
modernizing agriculture and animal husbandry, protecting environment,
protection for monuments and places and objects of national importance, separation
of judiciary and executive and promotion of international peace and security
are all covered under directive principles of state policy. (Articles-39 to 51)
Thus,
by implication, the state is made responsible for ensuring enforcement of
citizen’s rights.
Duties
By
an amendment of the Constitution in 1976, the following fundamental duties of
the citizens were incorporated in the Constitution.
It shall be the duty of every
citizen of India
- To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem.
- To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom.
- To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
- To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
- To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
- To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
- To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;
- To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
- To safeguard public property and abjure violence;
- To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement;
- who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years(Article-51A).
If
the less than 10% of fortunate Indians who are willing to make a difference in the lives of the remaining 1.1 billion
people who are less fortunate, resolve to follow the Constitution in letter and
spirit, everything else will fall in line.
