DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLE OF STATE POLICY : PART IV (ARTICLE 36-51)

 Directive Principles of State Policy: Part IV (Articles 36-51)

Introduction

Constitutional Provisions: Part IV of the Constitution of India (Article 36–51) contains the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).

The source of the concept of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) is the Spanish Constitution from which it came in the Irish Constitution.

Classification of Principles:

 The Directive Principles are classified on the basis of their ideological source and objectives. These are Directives based on:

Socialist Principles

Gandhian Principles

Liberal and Intellectual Principles

Directives based on Socialist Principles

Article 38: The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting a social order by ensuring social, economic and political justice and by minimising inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities   

                                                                                                                    

Articles 39: The State shall in particular, direct its policies towards securing:

• Right to an adequate means of livelihood to all the citizens.
• The ownership and control of material resources shall be organised in a manner to serve the common good.
• The State shall avoid concentration of wealth in a few hands.
• Equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
• The protection of the strength and health of the workers.
• Childhood and youth shall not be exploited.                                                                                     

• Article 41: To secure the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disability.                                                                      

Article 42: The State shall make provisions for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.

Article 43: The State shall endeavour to secure to all workers a living wage and a decent standard of life.

Article 43A: The State shall take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries.

Article 47: To raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of people and to improve public health.

Directives based on Gandhian Principles

Article 40: The State shall take steps to organise village panchayats as units of Self Government

Article 43: The State shall endeavour to promote cottage industries on an individual or cooperative basis in rural areas.

Article 43B: To promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies.

Article 46: The State shall promote educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people particularly that of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other weaker sections.

Article 47: The State shall take steps to improve public health and prohibit consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs that are injurious to health.

Article 48: To prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught cattle and to improve their breeds.

Directives based on Liberal-Intellectual Principles

Article 44: The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizen a Uniform Civil Code through the territory of India.

Article 45: The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

Article 48: To organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines.

Article 48A: To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Article 49: The State shall protect every monument or place of artistic or historic interest.

Article 50: The State shall take steps to separate judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State.

Article 51: It declares that to establish international peace and security the State shall endeavour to:

Maintain just and honourable relations with the nations.

Foster respect for international law and treaty obligations.

Encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

Amendments in DPSP:

42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976: It introduced certain changes in the part-IV of the Constitution by adding new directives:

Article 39A: To provide free legal aid to the poor.

Article 43A: Participation of workers in management of Industries.K1M

Article 48A: To protect and improve the environment.

44th Constitutional Amendment, 1978: It inserted Section-2 to Article 38 which declares that; “The State in particular shall strive to minimise economic inequalities in income and eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities not amongst individuals but also amongst groups”.

It also eliminated the Right to Property from the list of Fundamental Rights.

86th Amendment Act of 2002: It changed the subject-matter of Article 45 and made elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21 A.

Conflicts Between Fundamental Rights and DPSP: Associated Cases

Champakam Dorairajan v the State of Madras (1951): In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that in case of any conflict between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles, the former would prevail.

It declared that the Directive Principles have to conform to and run as subsidiary to the Fundamental Rights.

It also held that the Fundamental Rights could be amended by the Parliament by enacting constitutional amendment acts.

Golaknath v the State of Punjab (1967): In this case, the Supreme Court declared that Fundamental Rights could not be amended by the Parliament even for implementation of Directive Principles.

It was contradictory to its own judgement in the ‘Shankari Parsad case’.

Kesavananda Bharati v the State of Kerala (1973): In this case, the Supreme Court overruled its Golak Nath (1967) verdict and declared that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but it cannot alter its “Basic Structure”.

Thus, the Right to Property (Article 31) was eliminated from the list of Fundamental Rights.

Minerva Mills v the Union of India (1980): In this case, the Supreme Court reiterated that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but it cannot change the “Basic Structure” of the Constitution.

Implementation of DPSP: Associated Acts and Amendments

Land Reforms: Almost all the states have passed land reform laws to bring changes in the agrarian society and to improve the conditions of the rural masses. These measures include:

• Abolition of intermediaries like zamindars, jagirdars, inamdars, etc
• Tenancy reforms like security of tenure, fair rents, etc
• Imposition of ceilings on land holdings
• Distribution of surplus land among the landless labourers
• Cooperative farming.

Labour Reforms: The following acts were enacted to protect the interests of the Labour section of the society.

The Minimum Wages Act (1948), Code on Wages, 2020

The Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act (1970)

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986)

Renamed as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 in 2016.

The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976)

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957

The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Equal Remuneration Act (1976) have been made to protect the interests of women workers.

Panchayati Raj System: Through 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, government fulfilled constitutional obligation stated in Article 40.

Three tier ‘Panchayati Raj System’ was introduced at the Village, Block and District level in almost all parts of the country.

Cottage Industries: To promote cottage industries as per Article 43, the government has established several Boards such as Village Industries Board, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, All India Handicraft Board, Silk Board, Coir Board, etc., which provide essential help to cottage industries in finance and marketing.

Education: Government has implemented provisions related to free and compulsory education as provided in Article 45.

Introduced by the 86th Constitutional Amendment and subsequently passed the Rights to Education Act 2009, Elementary Education has been accepted as Fundamental Right of each child between the 6 to 14 years of age.

Rural Area Development: Programmes such as the Community Development Programme (1952), Integrated Rural Development Programme (1978-79) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA-2006) were launched to raise the standard of living particularly in rural areas, as stated in the Article 47 of the Constitution.

Health: Central Government sponsored schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Swasthya Yojana (PMGSY) and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) are being implemented to fulfill the social sector responsibility of the Indian State.

Environment: The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 have been enacted to safeguard the wildlife and the forests respectively.

The Water and Air Pollution Control Acts have provided for the establishment of the Central Pollution Control Board.

Heritage Preservation: .The Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958) has been enacted to protect the monuments, places and objects of national importanc.

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