Previous Year Question

The ideal of a Welfare State is enshrined in the Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Part IV of the Constitution. These principles extend from Articles 36 to 51.

A Welfare State does not confine itself to maintaining law and order. It plays an active role in the social, economic and human development of citizens by reducing poverty, inequality and exploitation and by promoting education, health, livelihood and social security.

Article 38 provides the clearest constitutional foundation for the Welfare State. It directs the State to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order in which social, economic and political justice informs all institutions of national life. The State must also seek to minimise inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities.

Other important Directive Principles include:

• Article 39: Adequate livelihood, distribution of resources for the common good, prevention of concentration of wealth, equal pay and protection of workers and children.

• Article 39A: Equal justice and free legal aid.

• Article 41: Work, education and public assistance within the State’s economic capacity.

• Article 42: Just and humane working conditions and maternity relief.

• Article 43: Living wage and a decent standard of life.

• Article 46: Promotion of the educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections.

• Article 47: Improvement of nutrition, standard of living and public health.

Under Article 37, the Directive Principles are not enforceable by courts, but they are fundamental in the governance of the country, and it is the duty of the State to apply them while making laws.

The Preamble declares the broad ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, but the detailed socio-economic programme of a Welfare State is provided in Part IV.

Fundamental Rights primarily protect individual liberty, equality and dignity against arbitrary State action. They form the foundation of political democracy, while the Directive Principles provide the direction for social and economic democracy.

The Seventh Schedule distributes legislative subjects between the Union and the States; it does not declare the Welfare State ideal.