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

Question 1

What is the correct chronological order of the four landmark cases, Champakam Dorairajan, Golaknath, Kesavananda Bharati, and Minerva Mills, that together shaped the relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles? Getting this order right matters for exams.

Question 2

What did the original 1950 text of Article 45 direct the State to try to provide, for all children up to fourteen years of age, within ten years from the Constitution's commencement? This original goal was later changed by an amendment.

Question 3

What did the Supreme Court decide in 2021, regarding Part IX-B, the detailed set of provisions on cooperative societies that the 97th Amendment had added to the Constitution alongside Article 43B? This ruling focused on a procedural requirement.

Question 4

What does Article 46 specifically direct the State to protect Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other weaker sections from, alongside promoting their educational and economic interests? This protective goal targets unfair treatment.

Question 5

What British legal scholar similarly described the Directive Principles as little more than pious aspirations, echoing a similar sceptical view about their real, practical significance? This critic is separate from K.C. Wheare.

Question 6

What landmark Supreme Court case from 1951 was the very first case to test a direct conflict between a Fundamental Right and a Directive Principle, ruling that the Fundamental Right must prevail? This case involved college admissions.

Question 7

What broad theme mainly connects Articles 48, 48A, 49, 50, and 51 together, even though each one targets a distinct specific area of concern? This theme completes the final stretch of Part IV's Directive Principles.

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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.