Note

Fundamental Rights and Duties

 

Objective         :     To explain the fundamental rights and duties provided by the present Interim Constitution.

 

Introduction:

The basic rights, which make human beings different and superior to other animals and are protected by the constitution of the country, are known as Fundamental Rights. In order to develop people’s personality, these rights are essential.

 

The Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Interim Constitution of 2063 B.S. are given below:-

Fundamental rights according to the Interim Constitution 2063 B.S.

Article Rights Provision
12 Right to Freedom Every citizen of Nepal is free to express his or her opinion through any means of communication, live wherever he likes and choose any occupation he likes but has to be legal and cannot create any problem to others.
13 Right to Equality All citizens of Nepal are equal before the eyes of law and cannot be discriminated on the basis of castes, religion, sex, political ideology etc.
14 Right Against Racial Discrimination and Untouchability There won’t be any discrimination on the basis of race and no one will be considered as the untouchable in the country. On the basis of the upper and the lower castes, there won’t be any domination.
15 Right to Press and Newspapers Every citizen will have the right to publish newspapers and write articles and the news with proof. The article or the news published in the newspaper should not be against the state, sovereignty and peace and security of any society.
16 Right to Environment and Health Every citizen will have right to live in a clean environment and get free primary health services according to the law provided by the state.
17 Right to Education and Culture Every citizen will have right to get education and protect the custom and culture of the respective ethnic groups.
18 Right to Employment and Social Security Every citizen will have right to employment according to the existing laws and there will be social security for women, laborers, old and disable.
19 Right to Property Every citizen will have right to earn, use and sell the property following the respective laws regarding property.
20 Right to Women No women will be exploited and dominated mentally, physically and sexually. They will have equal parental property right like men.
21 Right to Social justice Backward groups like women, dominated group, ethnic groups, madhesi, poor farmers and the laborers will be equally involved in the state mechanism.
22 Right to the Children Every child will have right to identity and name. They will not be exploited and separated from their parents. They will not be given any risky works in the factories, industries and the police force.
23 Right to Religion Every citizen will have right to adopt any religion he/she likes and promote his/her religion but no one can create problem to other religion and forcefully change other’s religion.
24 Right to Justice No citizen will be kept in the jail without giving proper reason and one will not be punished twice for the same crime.
25 Right against Preventive Detention No citizen will be kept in the detention where he cannot meet his relatives without enough proof that he has created problem to sovereignty, integrity and public peace.
26 Right Against Physical Torture No citizen will be tortured mentally and physically when he is in the investigation process by the police force in jail.
27. Right to Notice Every citizen will have right to get notice related to public matters but no one can force to give notice for the secret matters of the state according to the existing laws.
28 Right to Secrecy No citizen will be forced to tell the secrecy of his/her personal life.
29 Right Against Exploitation No citizen will be forced to work without wage and interest and no one will be sold and bought like animals or kept as slaves.
30 Right to Labor Every worker will have the right to practice labor and form the unions for the protection of their rights.
31 Right Against Exile No citizen will be exiled from the country.
32 Right to Constitutional Remedy If any citizen is exploited and the above mentioned rights are taken, the citizen can write a writ and directly go to the Supreme court to get his rights back.

 

Fundamental Duties:

Duty is something which we are obliged to do for others in the society. We have several fundamental rights and they are not absolute. We should do something to get them. Rights and duties are inter-related and can’t be separated.

 

Our rights become others’ duties and vice-versa. We can classify our duties in to three main categories:

  1. Moral Duty:

We must respect our parents and be obedient to our teachers. We should help the poor and love our juniors. We should be truthful and honest in our activities.

 

Moral Duty means the duty which we perform using our consciousness separating right from wrong and good from bad. If we fail to perform our moral duty, we are not punished legally but we are socially discarded.

  1. Legal Duty:

Legal Duty means the duty given by the state. We must abide by the rules and laws of the country. Cheating, stealing, killing and encroaching on others’ freedom are illegal. We are punished legally if we fail to perform such duties.

 

  1. Civil Duty:

Civil Duty means the duty that we perform as the conscious citizens of the country and as a whole the world.  The country has given us security, various rights and the environment to uplift our life. So, we have to do something for the betterment of our country. The world has given us a good civilization. So, we have to do something for the betterment of human civilization. Some of the civil duties are:

  1. Loyalty to the Nation
  2. Obedience to the Laws of the State
  3. Duty to cast the votes in the elections
  4. Duty to pay tax
  5. Take part in the development works of the country.

 

Group Activities:

  • Discuss in your group and write a paragraph on the importance of fundamental rights.
  • Discuss in your group and prepare a note on “Rights and duties are the two sides of the same coin.”
  • Discuss in your group and write which other right would you like to add in the list of fundamental rights besides the rights mentioned above. Why?
  • Discuss in your group and explain the statement “Let’s not think what the country has given to us but think what we have given to the country.”

 

Presentation: All groups present their works in 10 minutes.

Assignment:

  • Explain all the fundamental rights with their proper meaning.

Source: Interim constitution of Nepal 2063, teachers, newspapers, friends

 

Presentation for the next day: Group D

Elocution on ‘Fundamental rights and duties’ by 2 members of the group. Rest of the members will help them to prepare their speech.