Read the passage and answer the five questions that follow.
The Constituent Assembly deliberated upon the Indian Constitution, which came into effect on 26 January, 1950. It has the dubious distinction of being the longest in the world. But its length and complexity are perhaps understandable when one considers the country's size and diversity. At Independence, India was not merely large and diverse, but also deeply divided. A Constitution designed to keep the country together, and to take it forward, had necessarily to be an elaborate, carefully-worked-out, and painstakingly drafted document. For one thing, it sought to heal wounds of the past and the present, to make Indians of different classes, castes and communities come together in a shared political experiment. For another, it sought to nurture democratic institutions.
The nature of the Constitution imbibed the right to ___________ .
(A) Cultural Rights
(B) Educational Rights
(C) Equality
(D) Religion
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (A), (B), (C) and (D)
The passage does not speak of rights. The Constitution spelled out secularism through a carefully drafted series of Fundamental Rights, and all four rights in the question are among them.
(A) Cultural Rights Correct. The Constitution gives the Fundamental Rights to “cultural and educational rights” (Articles 29, 30).
(B) Educational Rights Correct. Educational rights are paired with the cultural rights in the same Articles 29 and 30.
(C) Equality Correct. The Constitution gives “rights to equality” (Articles 14, 16, 17).
(D) Religion Correct. It gives the right to “freedom of religion” (Articles 25-28). All religions were guaranteed equal treatment by the State and the right to maintain charitable institutions.
Note 1: The passage of this question is the opening paragraph of the chapter ‘Framing the Constitution’ in NCERT. NTA added its first words, ‘The Constituent Assembly deliberated upon’, and left out the end of its last sentence, ‘in what had long been a culture of hierarchy and deference’. Chapter openings deserve a careful read; this one alone carries five questions.
Note 2: In the original NTA paper, NTA accepted all four options of this question. Therefore, to leave a single correct answer, the question has been suitably modified, for the benefit of students.
NCERT (2025-26): “The Indian Constitution, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, has the dubious distinction of being the longest in the world. But its length and complexity are perhaps understandable when one considers the country’s size and diversity. At Independence, India was not merely large and diverse, but also deeply divided. A Constitution designed to keep the country together, and to take it forward, had necessarily to be an elaborate, carefully-worked-out, and painstakingly drafted document. For one thing, it sought to heal wounds of the past and the present, to make Indians of different classes, castes and communities come together in a shared political experiment. For another, it sought to nurture democratic institutions in what had long been a culture of hierarchy and deference.… 5.2 The fear of domination … A second important feature of the Constitution was its emphasis on secularism. There was no ringing pronouncement of secularism in the Preamble, but operationally, its key features as understood in Indian contexts were spelled out in an exemplary manner. This was done through the carefully drafted series of Fundamental Rights to ‘freedom of religion’ (Articles 25-28), ‘cultural and educational rights’ (Articles 29, 30), and ‘rights to equality’ (Articles 14, 16, 17). All religions were guaranteed equal treatment by the State and given the right to maintain charitable institutions.…” |