UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 83 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Rights Claims Against State
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectPolity
- TopicFundamental Rights
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
Which one of the following statements is correct?
Show answer
Answer: C. Rights are claims of the citizens against the State.
Verdict
The answer is that rights are claims of the citizens against the State.
Analysis
Rights are legal and moral entitlements or claims that a person holds against fellow beings, against society and above all against the government, and Fundamental Rights in India are enforceable primarily against the State under Article 12. The first option inverts the direction, making rights claims of the State against citizens, which describes duties or obligations. The second reduces rights to privileges granted by a document, whereas rights are recognised rather than conferred. The fourth describes privilege for a few, which is the opposite of a right.
Source
NCERT Class IX, Democratic Rights.
How to crack it
Two options here are exact mirror images, and when a question is built that way the entire task is deciding which direction the concept runs. Rights run from the citizen towards the State, since their historical purpose is to limit governmental power. Then note the vocabulary distinction the other two options exploit: a privilege is discretionary and revocable while a right is claimable and enforceable, and confusing the two is the standard trap in political theory.