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Rights are necessary for the very existence of democracy. Every citizen has the
right to participate in the democratic process. Additionally, every citizen has the
right to become the part of the democratic government. part of the democratic
government.
Rights protect the rights of the minorities against the majority. Things can go
wrong when some citizens try to take away the rights of others.
Certain rights are fundamental to our life and hence they are given special status in
the Constitution. Such rights are called Fundamental Rights. Following are the
Fundamental Rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of India:
Right to Equality:
The government shall not deny the right to equality before the law to any person in
India. Every Indian citizen; right from a poor landless labourer to the Prime Minister;
is equal in the eyes of the law of the land. The law of the land does not discriminate
between two persons on the basis of socio-economic status or power.
Every citizen has equal access to public places and public facilities; like temples,
bathing ghats, road, public toilets, community well, etc.
Every person gets the equal opportunity to compete for public jobs; like Civil
Services, defence services, etc. However, some provisions have been made to give
special preference to people from the SCs, STs, Women and OBCs. Similarly,
physically disabled are also given reservation in government jobs.
Untouchability; in any form has been banned and has been made a punishable
offence.
RIGHT TO FREEDOM:
The Right to Freedom means, we can do whatever we want to do; without
interference from others; especially the government. The Right to Freedom includes
the following:
Freedom to move to and reside in any part of country: Every citizen has the right
to travel to any part of the country. One can reside in any part of the country as well.
This freedom allows everyone to migrate to another place in search of better
opportunities. Many poor villagers have been able to improve their socioeconomic
status because they have the freedom to move out in search of employment. But
people of any other part of India cannot make permanent resident in Jammu &
Kashmir. Moreover, the freedom to move to any part of the country can also be
curtailed in times of emergency; like an attack or possibility of an attack by an enemy
country.
Freedom to carry out any profession or business:One can choose any profession
as per choice. This freedom ensures that a person can fully realize his or her
potential.
The police will inform the person about the reason of confinement.
The detained person should be produced before a magistrate within 24
hours.
The detained person has the right to consult a lawyer and engage a lawyer.
Every minority group has the right to protect its unique culture and to propagate its
unique culture. If a minority group wants to impart education in its own language, it is
free to do so; in order to preserve the uniqueness of that language and the related
culture. The government run institutions cannot deny admission to anybody on the
grounds of religion or language.
When any of the fundamental rights is violated, the affected person has the right to
seek constitutional remedies. The person can go to the court where his grievances
could be addressed. No government organ; like the executive, legislature or any
government functionary; cannot violate the fundamental rights of the citizens. In case
of any violation of the fundamental rights, a person can file Public Interest Litigation
(PIL). PIL is an instrument which allows anybody to knock at the doors of the
judiciary.
Times have changed drastically since the days when our Constitution was written.
Demands for many new fundamental rights have been coming up time and again.
Some of these demands have been included under the scope of fundamental rights.
For example; the Right to Education has been included in the list recently. As per this
right, every child has the right to get elementary education. Similarly, RTI (Right to
Information) was enacted recently. Under RTI, anybody can demand information
regarding the functions of a government department or official. The RTI has helped in
bringing transparency in working of government departments