Right to Equality – Indian Polity Study Notes for JKPSC KAS

Right to Equality: The right to equality is one of the fundamental rights provided to citizens of India under the Constitution of India. It provides for the equal treatment of all citizens of India irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

In this blog, we will be looking at the details of the Right to Equality and its associated constitutional provisions. It will prove to be helpful for any kind of competitive exam especially UPSC CSE, JKPSC KAS, TNPSC, APSC and other state-level civil service exams conducted by Public Service Commissions.

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What is Right to Equality?

Right to equality is one of the six fundamental rights granted to citizens of India by the Constitution of India. The basic premise of the right to equality is that it is vocal about the equal treatment for all irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

It also allows protection from discrimination on various grounds and advocates the idea of equal treatment for all in the case of public employment.

Also, it abolishes vices of the erstwhile rules of Indian society like untouchability and the use of titles such as Rai Bahadur, Khan Bahadur, Sir etc.

Right to Equality ( Articles 14-18)

Our preamble mentions different kinds of equality and as a citizen, every one of us should be aware of these equalities, which are:

• Natural
• Economical
• Civil
• Social
• Economic
• Political

The right to equality is one of the fundamental rights that is provided to every citizen of India by the virtue of being included in the Constitution of India under the fundamental rights.

It is one of the basic topics that a candidate needs to prepare for the polity and Indian Constitution part of the syllabus for JKPSC KAS and other civil service exams.

The right to equality is covered under articles 14-18 of the Indian Constitution. Let us have a look at each of the articles in a tabular format below.

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Article	What the article deals with
Article 14	The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India, on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
Article 15	The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
Article 16	There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
Article 17	Abolition of untouchability
Article 18	Abolition of all titles except military and academic

Let us have a detailed look into each of the articles below

Article 14 or Equality before Law

Article 14 deals with the provision of treating all citizens equally in the eyes of the law. The highlights of this article are:

• All citizens should be treated as equals in the eyes of the law
• There should be no differentiation on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
• The law of the country should protect everyone equally

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Article 15 or Prohibition of Discrimination

Article 15 deals with the prohibition of discrimination against any citizen of India under the following circumstances:

There should be no discrimination towards citizens based on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to:

(a) getting access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment

(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

It also states that the State can make special provisions for women and children and also for socially and educationally backward classes or for citizens belonging to SC and ST categories.

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Article 16 or Equal Opportunities in Public Employment

Article 16 assures the citizens of equal opportunities in matters of public employment and prevents the State from any sort of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them.

It also has the scope of making special provisions for citizens belonging to backward classes, SC or ST categories.

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Article 17 or Abolition of Untouchability

Article 17 deals with the prohibition of the practice of untouchability. It states that:

• Untouchability is abolished and the practice of untouchability is forbidden by law
• Any disability that arises out of untouchability shall be deemed as a punishable offence in accordance with the laws of the country.

Recommended Reading: Fundamental Rights Study Notes JKPSC KAS

Article 18 or Abolition of Titles

Article 18 deals with the abolition of erstwhile titles like Rai Bahadur, Khan Bahadur etc. It states that:

• Any title apart from military or academic distinction, shall not be conferred by the State.
• Any citizen of India shall not accept any title from any foreign State.
• Any person who is not a citizen of India shall not accept any title from any foreign State, without the consent of the President while holding any office of profit or trust under the State.
• Any person holding any office of profit or trust under the State shall not accept any present, emolument, or office of any kind from or under any foreign State, without the consent of the President.

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Conclusion

That was all from this blog, we hope it will be beneficial for the students preparing for JKPSC KAS or any other civil service examination. For more updates, stay connected to Oliveboard.