Question

Which one of the following Articles provides equal opportunity in matters of public employment in India?
a.Article 14
b.Article 15
c.Article 16
d.Article 17

Answer 1

Hint: If Article 14 is a genus, Article 16 will be a species –Article 16 is simply an expansion of Article 14, where both the laws on arbitrariness and the doctrine of fair classification refer to both (DTC v. Mazdoor Congress). There are, however, marked variations in Articles 14, 15, and 16.

Complete Answer:
Article 16: Equality of opportunity in matters of Public Employment.
1. Equal rights shall exist for all people in matters pertaining to jobs or election to any office of the State. No person shall, on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residency, or any of them, be ineligible or discriminated against in respect of any job or office within the territory of the State.
2. Nothing in this Article shall prohibit Parliament from making any provision, in respect of a form or form of employment or of appointment to an office under the jurisdiction of the Government or of any provincial or other jurisdiction within the territory of a State or of the Union, for any condition of residency within that state or territory of the Union prior to any employment or appointment.
3. Nothing in the Article shall prohibit the lawmakers/state/parliament from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of people who, in the view of the State, are not well represented in the services of the State. Nothing in this Article shall affect the functioning of any law which provides that a person professing a specific religion or belonging to a particular denomination shall be the holder of an office in connexion with the affairs of any religious or denominational entity or any member of its governing body.

So, the correct answer is Option C

Note: Other mentioned Articles:
1. Article 14: Equality before the law
2. Article 15: Prohibition of any kind of Discrimination listed in the Constitution
3. Article 17: Abolition of untouchability