Making of the Constitution, Preamble, features and schedules: previous-year questions
36 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 11 of them came in the last five papers.
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One common agreement between Gandhism and Marxism is
Answer (a) & explanation
Both aim at a stateless society (a). Marx expected that after a revolution and a period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, a classless society would emerge and the state would wither away. Gandhi wanted an "enlightened anarchy" of self-governing villages (Gram Swaraj), where people would rule themselves and the state would not need force. Option (b) is wrong because Gandhi rejected class struggle and violence. Option (c) is wrong because Gandhi preferred trusteeship, where the rich hold wealth for society, instead of abolishing private property. Option (d) is wrong because Gandhi rejected economic determinism, putting moral and spiritual values first.
Notice the Gandhian ideas in the Constitution: village panchayats (Article 40), cottage industries (43) and prohibition (47).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Preamble to the Constitution of India is
Answer (d) & explanation
Option (d) is correct. In Kesavananda Bharati (1973), the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is part of the Constitution, reversing the opinion in Berubari Union (1960) that it was not. Option (b) is therefore wrong. The Preamble is not enforceable on its own in a court; a person cannot sue only because a Preamble ideal is not met. But it guides how the other provisions are read and explained, especially where the text is unclear. That is why option (c) is wrong, as it does not have the same legal effect as other parts. Option (a) goes too far in saying it has no legal effect at all.
The 42nd Amendment (1976) added "socialist", "secular" and "integrity". Notice that the Court upheld these words in November 2024.
(a) and (d) differ by one word: "independently". The Preamble has effect through the other parts.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Ninth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution of India during the prime ministership of
Answer (a) & explanation
The Ninth Schedule came under Jawaharlal Nehru (a). The First Amendment (1951), passed by the provisional Parliament, added the Ninth Schedule and Articles 31A and 31B. Laws placed in it were protected from challenge for violating fundamental rights, mainly to save land reform and zamindari abolition laws struck down by courts. Nehru was Prime Minister, so options (b), (c) and (d) are wrong. The amendment also added limits on free speech under Article 19(2), such as public order and friendly relations with foreign states.
Notice the limit set later: in I.R. Coelho (2007), the Court held that laws added after 24 April 1973 (the date of Kesavananda Bharati) can be tested against the basic structure. Tamil Nadu's 69% reservation law is in the Schedule.
the Ninth Schedule grew fastest under Indira Gandhi, so (c) feels right. The question asks who introduced it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Under which Schedule of the Constitution of India can the transfer of tribal land to private parties for mining be declared null and void?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Fifth Schedule allows it (b). The Fifth Schedule deals with the administration of Scheduled Areas and tribes in states other than the North-East. It lets the Governor make regulations to ban or limit the transfer of tribal land and to control moneylending. In Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997), the Supreme Court used it to declare leases of tribal land to private mining companies null and void. The Third Schedule (a) has oaths, the Ninth (c) protects listed laws, and the Twelfth (d) lists municipal functions.
The Sixth Schedule covers tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Notice the related PESA Act, 1996 and the Niyamgiri case (2013), where gram sabhas rejected bauxite mining.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the context of polity, which one of the following would you accept as the most appropriate definition of liberty?
Answer (d) & explanation
Option (d) is the most appropriate definition. In political theory, liberty means not only freedom from control, but the conditions that let people develop themselves fully. This is the positive view of liberty, held by thinkers such as T.H. Green and Harold Laski. Option (b), absence of restraint, is negative liberty; taken alone, it can turn into licence. Option (c), doing whatever one likes, is licence, not liberty, since it ignores others' rights. Option (a) is only one part of liberty.
The Preamble promises liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, read with equality and fraternity. Ambedkar said these three form a "union of trinity". Notice how Article 19's freedoms come with reasonable restrictions, matching the positive view.
(b) is a textbook definition, but it is the narrow one. UPSC asked for the "most appropriate".
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following reflects the most appropriate relationship between law and liberty?
Answer (b) & explanation
Without laws, there is no liberty (b). Without law, the strong would rule the weak, and no one would be truly free. John Locke said, "where there is no law, there is no freedom." Law sets the conditions for liberty by protecting each person's freedom from others. More laws do not always mean less liberty (a), since good laws can expand freedom. Option (c) mixes up liberty with democracy. Option (d) is about stability, not the basic link between law and liberty.
T. H. Green and Harold Laski saw liberty as positive: the chance to develop oneself, which law helps create. Notice how the Constitution balances this: rights under Article 19 can be limited only by "reasonable restrictions" made by law.
(a) treats law and liberty as enemies. That is the "absence of restraint" view UPSC rejected again in 2019.
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Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following are regarded as the main features of the "Rule of Law"?
- 1. Limitation of powers
- 2. Equality before law
- 3. People's responsibility to the Government
- 4. Liberty and civil rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct (c). A. V. Dicey's idea of the rule of law has three parts. First, there is no arbitrary power: government powers are limited by law (1). Second, there is equality before the law, so everyone, including officials, is subject to the ordinary courts (2). Third, rights and civil liberties are protected by the courts (4). Statement 3, "people's responsibility to the Government", turns this upside down. Under the rule of law, it is the government that answers to the law and to the people.
India includes the rule of law in Article 14. The Supreme Court made it part of the basic structure in Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975). Notice the related idea: the opposite of rule of law is "rule by law", where law is used as a tool of power.
statement 3 flips the direction. Under the rule of law, government answers to the people and the law.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- 2. The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be examined by any court and no judgement can be made on it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). Parliament can place laws in the Ninth Schedule by constitutional amendment, through Article 31B. This was added by the 1st Amendment (1951) to protect land reform laws. Statement 2 is wrong because such laws are not beyond review. In I. R. Coelho (2007), a nine-judge bench ruled that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 (the Kesavananda date) can be tested against the basic structure, including the rights in Articles 14, 19 and 21.
The Schedule now holds 284 laws, including Tamil Nadu's 69% reservation law. Notice the trend of these cases: courts have steadily made sure no law escapes judicial review completely.
"cannot be examined by any court". That was the original idea, but Coelho ended it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following objectives is not embodied in the Preamble to the Constitution of India?
Answer (b) & explanation
Economic liberty is not in the Preamble (b). The Preamble promises liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, so options (a), (c) and (d) all appear in it. The economic idea in the Preamble is "Justice, social, economic and political", borrowed from the Russian Revolution. It does not mention economic liberty. It also promises equality of status and of opportunity and fraternity, ensuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.
The 42nd Amendment (1976) added "socialist, secular" and "integrity". The Supreme Court upheld these words in 2024. Notice that the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity come from the French Revolution.
"economic" is in the Preamble, so (b) feels safe. It sits with justice, not liberty.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The mind of the makers of the Constitution of India is reflected in which of the following?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Preamble reflects the mind of the makers (a). The Preamble grew out of the Objectives Resolution, which Nehru moved on 13 December 1946 and the Assembly adopted in January 1947. In Berubari (1960), the Supreme Court called it the key to open the minds of the makers. In Kesavananda Bharati (1973), it said the Preamble is part of the Constitution and can be amended, but not in a way that harms the basic structure. Fundamental Rights (b), Directive Principles (c) and Fundamental Duties (d) carry out these ideals but do not sum them up.
The Preamble was amended once, by the 42nd Amendment. Notice its four parts: the source of authority (We, the People), the nature of the state, its objectives, and the date of adoption (26 November 1949).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
One of the implications of equality in society is the absence of
Answer (a) & explanation
Equality means the absence of privileges (a). In political theory, equality means no person or group gets special rights by birth, caste, wealth or status. Harold Laski said equality first means the absence of special privilege and second means adequate opportunities for all. Restraints (b) still exist in an equal society, since the law restrains everyone equally. Competition (c) can be healthy with equal opportunity. Ideology (d) has nothing to do with it.
The Constitution puts this into practice through Articles 14–18. Article 15 bans discrimination, Article 17 abolishes untouchability, and Article 18 abolishes titles, removing hereditary privilege. Notice that protective discrimination (reservations) is not a privilege. It helps those held back, to create real, not just formal, equality.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Democracy's superior virtue lies in the fact that it calls into activity
Answer (a) & explanation
Democracy calls on the intelligence and character of ordinary people (a). Democracy rests on the belief that ordinary citizens can judge public questions and take part in their own government. By asking them to vote, debate and hold power to account, it develops their intelligence and character. This was J. S. Mill's main defence of representative government. Strengthening executive leadership (b), relying on one dynamic leader (c), or relying on a band of party workers (d) all describe forms of rule by the few.
Notice how the Constitution builds this trust: universal adult franchise from 1950, with no literacy or property test, at a time when most Indians could not read. Ambedkar warned that political democracy must grow into social democracy.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The provisions in Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule in the Constitution of India are made in order to
Answer (a) & explanation
Both schedules exist to protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes (a). The Fifth Schedule governs Scheduled Areas and tribes in most States, with Tribes Advisory Councils and special powers for the Governor. The Sixth Schedule sets up autonomous district councils in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. They do not fix State boundaries (b) or deal with border States (d). Panchayats (c) are in the Eleventh Schedule.
PESA (1996) extends panchayat self-rule to Fifth Schedule areas. Notice how the Constitution balances integration with protection of tribal identity.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
A Constitutional Government is one which
- 1. places effective restrictions on individual liberty in the interest of State Authority
- 2. places effective restrictions on the Authority of the State in the interest of individual liberty
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
A constitutional government is one where the constitution limits the power of the State so that individuals stay free (2 correct). Statement 1 puts it backwards: placing restrictions on liberty in the interest of State authority describes an authoritarian state, not a constitutional one. So the answer is (b).
This idea is called constitutionalism: rule of law, separation of powers, fundamental rights and judicial review all work to keep power in check. UPSC has returned to it in 2014, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Notice how Fundamental Rights in Part III are written mainly as limits on the State.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following provisions of the Constitution of India have a bearing on Education?
- 1. Directive Principles of State Policy
- 2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
- 3. Fifth Schedule
- 4. Sixth Schedule
- 5. Seventh Schedule
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Answer (d) & explanation
All five are correct (d). Education appears across the Constitution. Directive Principles: Article 45 (early childhood care and education) and Article 46 (education of weaker sections) (1). Local bodies: education is listed in the Eleventh Schedule for panchayats and cultural and educational aspects in the Twelfth for municipalities (2). The Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule govern tribal areas, and district councils under the Sixth may set up primary schools (3, 4). The Seventh Schedule places education in the Concurrent List (entry 25) (5).
Notice the shift: the 42nd Amendment (1976) moved education from the State to the Concurrent List, and the 86th Amendment (2002) made it a fundamental right under Article 21A. Trap: Schedules seem administrative, but each touches education.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Dialectical materialism is the answer (d). Marx took Hegel's dialectic (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) but turned it to material life: history moves forward through conflict between classes that own the means of production and classes that do not, until a classless society emerges. (a) is wrong: liberalism stresses individual rights and markets, the very order Marx attacked. (b) is wrong: existentialism (Kierkegaard, Sartre) is about individual choice and meaning, not classes. (c) is wrong: Marx admired Darwin, but class struggle is not built on evolution of species.
Notice the wider frame: Marx's historical materialism sees the economic base shaping the political and cultural superstructure. Trap: 'Darwin' tempts because both describe struggle and change.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.