Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) Quiz — 7 Free Questions

Question 1

What does the harmonious construction doctrine, established through the Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills cases, actually require courts to try to do whenever a law touches both a Fundamental Right and a Directive Principle? This approach avoids picking an automatic winner.

Question 2

What category of Directive Principle is Article 48A, on protecting the environment, forests, and wildlife, usually placed under by scholars, according to the standard classification widely used in exam preparation? This is the same category as Article 44.

Question 3

What category of Directive Principle is Article 45, on early childhood care and education, usually placed under by scholars, according to the standard classification widely used in exam preparation? This is the very same category that Article 44 also belongs to.

Question 4

What did the Supreme Court rule in the Golaknath case of 1967, regarding Parliament's power to amend Fundamental Rights under Article 368? This ruling created a serious constitutional problem that needed a later solution.

Question 5

What does Article 50 of the Constitution direct the State to take steps toward, specifically within the public services of the country? This goal aims to keep two important government functions clearly apart.

Question 6

What does clause (e) of Article 39 direct the State to protect, regarding workers of both genders and the tender age of children in the workplace? This clause guards against unsafe or unsuitable work.

Question 7

What does Article 49 direct the State to protect, specifically covering any monument, place, or object declared by Parliament to be of national importance? This protection guards against several kinds of harm.

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About Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)

The Directive Principles of State Policy are found in Part IV of India's Constitution, from Article 36 to Article 51. Unlike Fundamental Rights, these principles cannot be directly enforced in any court. Article 37 still calls them fundamental in the governance of the country, and says it is the duty of the State to apply them while making laws. These principles were borrowed mainly from the Irish Constitution of 1937, which itself borrowed the idea from Spain, and they also carry forward the spirit of the Instrument of Instructions found in the Government of India Act, 1935.

These principles cover a very wide range of goals for the State to work toward. They ask the State to secure a fair social order, reduce inequality, pay equal wages for equal work, and stop wealth from piling up in too few hands. They also ask the State to give free legal aid, build strong village panchayats, provide work and education, protect workers with fair pay and safe conditions, and support cottage industries. Some principles, like Article 43A and Article 43B, were added later to cover workers' participation in management and cooperative societies.

Other principles guide the State on cultural, social, and moral matters. Article 44 asks for a Uniform Civil Code, Article 45 asks for early childhood care and education, and Article 46 asks the State to specially protect the interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other weaker sections. Article 47 asks the State to improve public health and work toward prohibition, while Article 48 and Article 48A ask the State to modernise agriculture and protect the environment, forests, and wildlife.

A few principles look outward or toward the wider system of justice. Article 49 protects monuments and places of national importance, Article 50 asks for the separation of the judiciary from the executive, and Article 51 asks India to promote international peace and security. Scholars often group all these principles into three broad types: Socialistic, Gandhian, and Liberal-Intellectual, based on the kind of thinking behind each one.

Since Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles can sometimes pull in different directions, courts have had to work out how the two fit together. Early cases like State of Madras versus Champakam Dorairajan showed Fundamental Rights winning over Directive Principles. Later, landmark cases like Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills settled that both parts of the Constitution must work in harmony, with neither one allowed to completely destroy the other.

This subcategory covers every Article in Part IV, along with the important amendments and court cases connected to them, in simple, clear language, to help students build a strong and accurate base for their IAS and other competitive exams.