Fundamental Duties

         In 1976 the Congress President appointed a Committee headed by Sardar Swaran Singh to examine the Constitution and to suggest changes “so that it may continue as a living document”. The report and recommendations of the Committee resulted in 42^nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976. Apart from other things this amendment included the insertion of Part IVA and Article 51A in our Constitution. These contain fundamental duties of citizens. Presently there are eleven fundamental duties. Out of these ten were inserted in the Constitution by the 42^nd Amendment while one more fundamental duty referring to the duty of a parent to provide education to his children was incorporated by the 86^th amendment in 2002. The fundamental duties are:

1. to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
2. to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
3. to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
4. to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
5. 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;
6. to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
7. to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
8. to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
9. to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
10. 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;
11. 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.

Fundamental Rights

             Almost all the liberal democracies of the world grant some basic rights to their citizens and foreign citizens residing in their territory. In India these are provided in the form of Fundamental Rights which included in Part three of the Constitution. These are broadly categorized as Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights and Right to Constitutional Remedies. These rights are legally enforceable. Details of these rights as provided in the Constitution are as under:

Right to Equality	Article 14	Equality before law- Provides for equality before law and equal protection of law to any person within the territory of India.
	Article 15	Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth- Prohibits the state from making any discrimination on these grounds. No citizen can be discriminated on any of these grounds with respect to access to shops, restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment as well as the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of state funds or dedicated to the use of general public. State can make special provision for women and children; socially or educationally backward classes or the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
	Article 16	Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment- Provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment. However Parliament is empowered to make laws about a requirement for the public post to be a resident of that particular state or Union territory. Parliament is also empowered for making reservation of appointment or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens or Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which are not adequately represented. Allows the operation of a law which provides that person holding an office in a religious and denominational institution should belong to a particular religion or denomination.
	Article 17	Abolition of Untouchability- Abolishes “Untouchability” and makes its practicing a punishable offence.
	Article 18	Abolition of Titles- Provides that State shall not confer any titles except military and academic distinctions. Also provides that no citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign state. Any foreign citizen while he holds an office of profit or trust under the State shall not accept any title from any foreign state except with the permission of the President. Further no person holding any office of profit shall accept any present, emolument or office of any kind from or under any foreign state.
Right to Freedom	Article 19	Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech etc- This provides to all citizens the right  to freedom of Speech and Expression to assemble peacefully and without arms to form associations and unions to move freely throughout the territory of India to reside or settle in any part of the territory of India to practice any profession, occupation or trade.           However these rights are not absolute. This article empowers the State to make laws for placing reasonable restrictions on any of these rights.
	Article 20	Protection in respect of conviction for offences-  Provides that no person can be convicted of an offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of commission of the offence nor can be subjected to a penalty greater than which might have been inflicted under the law in force at that time. Further no person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once. No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
	Article 21	Protection of life and personal liberty- Provides that no person shall be deprived of his life and liberty except according to a procedure established by law.
	Article 21A	Right to education- Provides for free and compulsory education to all children from age of six to fourteen years.
	Article 22	Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases- Provides that no person arrested should be detained in custody without being informed as soon as possible about the grounds of his arrest. Any person arrested and detained should not be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. Provides that every person arrested and detained in custody must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 48 hours excluding the time required for such journey and further detention should only be with the permission of the magistrate. Also provides that these rights are not available to an enemy alien or to a person who is arrested or detained under law providing for preventive detention. Provides that in normal circumstances preventive detention should not be more than three months unless authorized by an Advisory Board comprising of persons who are, or have been or are qualified to be High Court Judges. Parliament is empowered to make laws for prescribing the circumstances under which preventive detention can be made for more than three months and for prescribing the procedure to be followed by the Advisory Board.
Right against Exploitation	Article 23	Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour- Prohibits traffic in human beings as well as  ‘begaar’ and other similar forms of forced labour. However the State is empowered to impose compulsory service for public purposes.
	Article 24	Prohibition of employment of children in factories etc.- Prohibits employment of children below the age of fourteen years in a factory, mine or any other hazardous employment.
Right to freedom of religion	Article 25	Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion- Provides that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and right to practice any religion. This is subject to public order, morality, health and other provisions related to fundamental rights.
	Article 26	Freedom to manage religious affairs- Provides for the right to every religious denomination to  establish and maintain religious institutions for religious and charitable purposes; to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion; to own and acquire movable and immovable property; to administer such property in accordance with law; These rights are also subject to public order, morality and health.
	Article 27	Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion- Prohibits compelling a person to pay a tax the proceeds of which would go for promotion of a particular religion.
	Article 28	Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain education institutions- Prohibits imparting of religious instructions in educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds. However this will not apply to an institution administered by the state but established under an endowment or trust which requires imparting of religious instructions. No person attending any educational institution recognized or funded by the State shall be required to take part in any religious instruction or worship being conducted in that institution.
Cultural and Educational Rights	Article 29	Protection of interests of minorities- Provides that any section of citizen having a distinct language, script or culture have a right to conserve the same. No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution only on the grounds of religion, race, caste language or any of them.
	Article 30	Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions- Provides that all minorities, whether linguistic or religious, shall have the right to establish and administer educations institutions of their choice. While granting aid to educational institutions, the State shall not discriminate against any educational institution under the management of a minority.
Right to Constitutional Remedies	Article 32	Remedies for enforcement of Rights conferred- Provides the right to move to Supreme Court for enforcement of these rights. Empowers Supreme Court to issues directions for the enforcement of these rights.

National Population Policy-Targets and Achievements

          India is the second most populous country in the world after China. As per 2011 census, India has a population of about 1.2 billion with an annual growth rate of 1.64%. Our population density which was 117 persons per square km in 1951 has now increased to 382 persons per square km, much higher than 144 persons per sq km for China. In the last decade itself (2001-2011) we have added 18.1 crore people to our population. The increase is almost equal to the population of Brazil (19.07 crores) or Pakistan (18.4 crores) which are 5^th and 6^th most populous countries of the world. This increase in population absorbs the results of most of our economic achievements and is a major hindrance in increasing the per capita availability of resources. 

The size of population and high growth rate had been a cause of concern even during the British period. The Government had set up a Committee in 1943 to conduct a survey on Indian Health System. The Committee was called The Health Survey and Development Committee. The Committee submitted its report in 1946 in which it devoted one chapter to the problem of increase in population recommending thereafter “the spreading of the knowledge of birth control as far as the limitations imposed by the peculiar circumstances of the country will permit”.

          

          After independence, the matter was taken up in the five year plans wherein family planning was treated as a part of the health programmes. These emphasized family planning to the extent necessary for reducing birth rates to “stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirement of Indian economy”. National Health policy of 1983 emphasized the need for achieving small family norm through voluntary participation. National Health Policy of 2002 pointed out that efforts for improving health standards of the people have been partly neutralized by rapid growth of population and also that population stabilization measures and general health initiatives when synchronized, maximize the socio-economic well being of the people.    

            

            However, as a need was felt for a National Population Policy, an expert group under Dr.M.S.Swaminathan was set up in 1993 to prepare a draft of the policy. The Committee submitted its report in 1994. The Report basically related population growth to the basic needs, democratic decentralization, gender issues and eco-system. These features were incorporated in the 'Statement on National Population Policy”. 

National Population Policy

            

               National Population Policy was announced in the year 2000. The policy took note of the fact that the growth in population was due to the large size of the population in the reproductive age, high fertility due to inadequate availability of contraception, high wanted fertility due to high infant mortality rates and most of the girls marrying below the age of 18. Some of the important objectives of the policy were as under:

1. Address the unmet needs for basic reproductive and child health services, supplies and infrastructure.
2. Make school education up to age 14 free and compulsory, and reduce dropouts at primary and secondary school levels to below 20 percent for both boys and girls. 
3. Reduce infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births.
4. Reduce maternal mortality ratio to below 100 per 100,000 live births.
5. Achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases.
6. Promote delayed marriage for girls, not earlier than age 18 and preferably after 20 years of age.
7. Achieve 80 percent institutional deliveries and 100 percent deliveries by trained persons.
8. Achieve universal access to information/counseling, and services for fertility regulation and contraception with a wide basket of choices.
9. Achieve 100 percent registration of births, deaths, marriage and pregnancy.
10. Contain the spread of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and promote greater integration between the management of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the National AIDS Control Organization.
11. Prevent and control communicable diseases.
12. Integrate Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) in the provision of reproductive and child health services, and in reaching out to households.
13. Promote vigorously the small family norm to achieve replacement levels of TFR.
14. Bring about convergence in implementation of related social sector programmes so that family welfare becomes a people-centered programme.

Targets and achievements

            

              As per census of 1951, crude birth rate (CBR) was 40.8, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was 146, crude death rate 25 and total fertility rate was 6. As per Sample Registration Survey for the year 2012 Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is 21.6; Crude Death Rate (CDR) is 7.0; Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is 42 and Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is 2.4.  These figures would indicate that the country has made substantive progress in population management since 1951. However, when we see it from the perspective of the targets set by the National Health Policy and National Population Policy we find that our achievements falls short of the targets under the National Population Policy. Similarly, with respect to TFR, National Health Policy targeted replacement levels by 2000 and National Population Policy targeted these levels by 2010, but the figure for the year 2012 is 2.4, which is again much higher than the target. At this rate we may take another 10 years or so to achieve this level of TFR. 

            

                National Population Policy sets the target of achieving a stable population by 2045, that is, after 35 years of achieving the replacement level. The projections appear unrealistic considering the example of China which attained replacement level of total fertility rate in 1990. However, its population is still growing and is expected to achieve peak level only in 2050 after which it will stabilize or gradually decline. Thus, in China, peak level is expected to be achieved after 60 years of achieving replacement level of fertility rates. As India, does not have such a vigorous population control policy as China time taken by India is likely to be much higher.  

      

      Reasons for underachievement

            The above said data indicates the many of the targets set by the National Population Policy have not been achieved. The reasons could be as under:

1. 1. Unlike China, we have resorted to voluntary participation in population control measures;hence efficacy of these measures would depend on the ability to convince people to have a smaller family. This makes, literacy level a very important factor. As per Census, 2011, Kerala, which has the highest literacy rate of 93.91%, has a very low annual growth rate of .48% while Bihar which has lowest literacy rate of 63.82% has a high annual growth rate of 2.26%.
2. 2.  Poverty is another important factor. In such families, an additional child is treated as a potential earning hand and hence birth of a child is not discouraged.
3. 3.  In a number of areas particularly in remote areas, adequate health and birth control facilities are not available without which the people cannot adopt family planning measures.
4. 4.  Social factors also play an important role. Traditional Indian society prefers early marriage of girls which means that a married woman has more years of reproductive period. This is an important factor in increasing fertility rate and leads to growth in population.