Swaran Singh Committee

Introduction 

Even if the rights and the duties are termed as correlative and inseparable from each other, still the Constitution makers didn’t include the duties in the Constitution in the first attempt. Yet, they encompassed the duties in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy. It was in 1976, that the Fundamental Duties were added singly in the Constitution. One of the most famous committees formed for the issue of inclusion was the Swaran Singh Committee which gave suggestions regarding the inclusion of Fundamental duties as a distinct division in the Indian Constitution. 

What are the Fundamental Duties of the Constitution?

Fundamental duties are the moral commitments and responsibilities for all the citizens, to promote a spirit of harmony and fidelity in India. 

Features of Fundamental Duties  

1)Fundamental Duties are classified into two categories namely moral and civic duties. 

Moral duties include duties like respecting the distinguished ideals of the struggle for independence. On the other hand, honouring and esteeming the National figures of the nation are considered under civic duty. 

2) Fundamental duties encompass such tasks that are considered essential for the Indian way of living of the people. 

3)The confinement zone of these duties extends up to only the Citizens of India and not people outside that. 

4)Just like the Directive Principles of State Policy, the Fundamental Duties are not directly enforceable by the courts. Also, there is no authorization on the infringement of these duties. 

Swaran Singh Committee

In 1976, the Congress administration in power established a committee, known as the Swaran Singh Committee, for making recommendations regarding the inclusion of Fundamental Duties in our Constitution. The necessity for this upheaval was felt during the operation of an internal emergency that went from 1957 to 1977 in the whole country. 

The Swaran Singh Committee proposed that the Fundamental Duties of the citizens of India should have a separate division in the Indian Constitution. The board stressed the fact that the citizens of the country should be aware of the duties that they should take care of, apart from the rights that are given to them.

The above recommendations were accepted by Congress and enacted with the help of the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act. It added a new part to the Constitution, Part IVA that put in 10 fundamental duties in Article 51A. Congress deemed this as a failure of the makers of the Constitution and considered this as a historical mistake. 

Members of the committee

Sardar Swaran Singh along with 11 other members established the Swaran Singh Committee. The idea of constructing a Commission was initially lent by Indira Gandhi Ji, to research the Legislation in light of what had happened in the past.  The committee recommended that the Fundamental Duties should be included as a distinct division in the constitution. 

The Swaran Singh Committee members are: 

(1)Sardar Swaran Singh – Chairman

(2) S.S. Ray

(3) VN Gadgil 

(4) BN Banerjee

(5) Dinesh Goswami

(6) DP Singh

(7) CM Stephen

(8) HR Gokhale

(9) Rajni Patel

(10) VA Sayed Muhammed

(11) A.R. Antulay

(12) Vasant Sathe

Recommendations 

The Swaran Singh Committee recommended various proposals after research of what had happened in the past and what was ideally seen for the future course of time. The Swaran Singh Committee recommended: 

1)The Swaran Singh Committee recommended that the fundamental duties should be included as a separate section in the Indian Constitution. So, on this proposal, the Fundamental Duties were added as the inclusion of Part IVA in the Constitution under Article 51A. 

2) Under the head of the Fundamental Duties, it was recommended to make an inclusion of eight Fundamental Duties in the Indian Constitution. 

3) Further, it was also proposed that the parliament should assess distinct laws considering the penalties that would be imposed if anyone fails to obey these.

4) The law made under the above recommendation should be out of the reach of Judicial Review, in case of any kind of violation in the Constitution.

5) It was also recommended that from then onwards the duty of paying taxes was also to be considered as a Fundamental Duty of the citizen.  

Nonetheless, only the first and the second proposals were approved by the Congress Government and the rest were not accepted by the authority. Also, not eight, but ten fundamental duties were added with the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976. 

Criticism of Fundamental Duties in the Constitution

The Swaran Singh Committee members gave certain recommendations for the Fundamental Duties. However, the inclusions made in the Fundamental Duties are also denounced on various distinct grounds: 

1)The list of Fundamental Duties is not exhaustive, it means that it doesn’t include all the important duties. It fails to encompass paying taxes, casting vote, family planning and various other important duties that mark the basic spirit of the obligations of the citizens.  

2) Some of the Fundamental Duties have a problem of clarity and equivocation that makes it difficult for a common man to understand such duties clearly. 

3) The concept of inclusion is considered superfluous because the citizens were going to perform them even if they weren’t part of the Constitution. Either way, things would have worked. 

Conclusion 

Despite all the criticisms that the concept of Fundamental Duties has faced, they are considered significant for the society and nation to work. Some obligations should always be there,if many significant rights are given to the citizens of the country. The existence of the Fundamental Duties serve as a warning for those who would try to commit antisocial activities. Apart from that, they also serve as a source of inspiration to the citizens of the country.