Directive Principles of State Policy(Article 36-51)
Directive Principles of State Policy
Directive Principle of State Policy provides guidelines to Central and State governments in India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies and are mentioned in part 4 of the constitution.
Articles 36-51 under Part-IV of Indian Constitution deal with Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
The provisions contained in this Part cannot be enforced by any court, but these principles are fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.
While most of the Fundamental Rights are negative obligations on the state, DPSPs are positive obligations on the state, though not enforceable in a court of law.
Dr B R Ambedkar described these principles as ‘novel features’ of the Indian Constitution.
Features of Directive Principle
- The basic aim of DPSPs is to set up social and economic goals before the lawmakers
- To bring socio-economic change in the country
- To fulfill the basic needs of the common man
- To reshape the structure of Indian society in direction of greater socio-economic equality.
DPSPs are fundamentals in the governance of the country and shall be considered dutifully by the state while making laws, but DPSPs are not enforceable in a court of law.
- If a state fails to fulfill these obligations, one cannot go to a court of law
- DPSPs only provides a yardstick for measuring the success or failure of the government
Articles 36 to 51 deal with the provisions of the Directive Principles and are broadly classified into
- Socialist principles
- Gandhian principles
- Liberal intellectual principles
Socialist Principles
- To secure a social order for the promotion of the welfare of the people.
- To strive to minimize inequalities of income i.e. operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment;
- ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;
- Equal justice and free legal aid.
- Ownership and control of material resources of the community shall be so distributed so as to subserve the common good.
- Equal pay for equal work.
- The Health and strength of workers and the tender age of children must not be abused.
- Right to work, to education, and to public assistance in certain cases.
- Provision of just and humane conditions for work and maternity relief.
- Participation of workers in the management of the industries.
- Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health.
- Children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
Liberal Principles
- Uniform Civil Code for the citizens.
- Provide free and compulsory education for children below 14 years.
- Separation of Judiciary from Executive.
- To promote international peace and amity.
- Protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance
- Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life.
The Gandhian Principles
- Organization of Village Panchayats (Article -40) and to promote the cottage industry. (Article -43)
- Promotion of educational and economic interests of the SCs, the STs, and the other weaker sections of the society. (Article -46)
- To bring about the prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs that are injurious to health.
- Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines to prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves, and other milch and draught animals.
Article 36: Definition
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, “the State” has the same meaning as in Part III.
Article 37: Application of the principles contained in this Part
The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforced by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country, and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.
Article 38: State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people
1) The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic, and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life.
2) The State shall, in particular, strive to minimize the inequalities in income, and endeavor to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities, and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.
Article 39: Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State
- The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing –
- that the citizen, men, and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood;
- that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;
- that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment;
- that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women;
- that the health and strength of workers, men, and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength;
- that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
Article 39A: Equal justice and free legal aid
The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.
Article 40: Organisation of village panchayats
The State shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.
Article 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases
The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education, and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want.
Article 42: Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief
The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief
Article 43: Living wage, etc., for workers
The State shall endeavor to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organization or in any other way, to all workers agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to promote cottage industries on an individual or co-operative basis in rural areas.
Article 43A: Participation of workers in the management of industries
The State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other organization engaged in any industry.
Article 44: Uniform civil code for the citizen
The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.
Article 45: Provision for free and compulsory education for children
Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other weaker sections
The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
Article 47: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health
The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for the medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.
Article 48: Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry
The State shall endeavor to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.
Article 48A: Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife
The State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
Article 49: Protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance
It shall be the obligation of the State to protect every monument or place or object of artistic or historic interest, declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance, from spoliation, disfigurement, destruction, removal, disposal or export, as the case may be.
Article 50: Separation of judiciary from the executive
The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State.
Article 51: Promotion of international peace and security
The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 added one more Directive Principle, which requires the State to minimize inequalities in income, status, facilities, and opportunities (Article 38).
The 86th Amendment Act of 2002 changed the subject-matter of Article 45 and made elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21 A.
Directives in other parts of the Constitution (Except part IV)
Article 350 A: It enjoins every State and every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for the instructions in the mother tongue at the primary stage to children of linguistic minority areas.
Article 351: It enjoins the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language so that it may serve as a medium of expression of all the elements of the composite culture of India.
Article 335: It says that the claims of SC/ST shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with affairs of the Union or of a State.
Under the implementation of DPSP, Zamindari, Jaghirdari, and Inamdari systems were abolished and actual tillers of the soil were made the owner of the land.
Criticism to DPSP
Many critics have been very vocal in criticizing the existence of unenforceable pious declarations (Directive Principles) in the Constitution of India.
K.T. Shah compares DPSP to a cheque payable by the bank at its convenience.
Main Points of Criticism:
Lack of Legal Force:
The critics hold that as unenforceable directives, these principles do not carry any weight. Their violation or non-realization cannot be challenged in any court.
Mere Declarations:
The Directive Principles are the mere declaration of intentions or instructions which are to be observed and secured by the State at will. The Constitution neither makes them justiciable nor fixes the time- limit within which these are to be secured.
Unsystematic Enumeration and No Classification:
Another point of criticism against the Directive Principles has been that these have been neither systematically stated nor properly classified. These appear to be a collection of some pious declarations which have only a moral value.
Lack of Clarity:
Several Directives lack clarity. Several principles have been repeated in different places. The Directive to promote international peace and friendly cooperation among all the nations is a laudable declaration. But the real issue is how to secure it? No clear guideline has been given for this purpose.
Reactionary in Nature:
Many critics hold that written during 1947-49, several of the Directives appear to be reactionary in contemporary times. The party in power at a particular time can use some of the directives for political and selfish ends. Moreover, enumeration of these principles involves an attempt to unduly bind the present with the past.
Impracticability of some of the Principles:
Part IV includes some directives which cannot be realized in actual practice. The ideal is to introduce prohibition, but this ideal cannot be really and effectively realized. The states which introduced prohibition had to, later on, scrap it.
Obsolete Philosophical Foundations:
Most of the Directive Principles incorporated in this part of the Constitution are based on age-old and foreign philosophical foundations (Fabian Socialism). The philosophy of Fabian Socialism has lost much of its relevance in contemporary times.
Superfluous:
Many critics hold that the Directive Principles merely restate the objectives and goals clearly stated in the Preamble of the Constitution. Their description in Part IV has made things more complex and complicated.
Mere Promises:
Directive principles are designed to serve as pious promises for creating an impression about a just exercise of the power of the State. Their aim is to secure support through promise-making and not action. On the basis of these arguments, the critics severely criticize the existence and scope of Part IV of the Constitution.
Significance of Directive Principles
Directive Principles are backed by Public Opinion:
It is true that Directive Principles are non-justiciable. These are not backed by legal sanctions. However, these are backed by public opinion, which is in reality the real sanction behind every law.
Provide for a Welfare State:
The Directive Principles clearly lay down the philosophical foundations of a welfare polity. These make it a responsibility of the State to secure it through welfare legislation. These also provide that a welfare state stands for securing Justice—social, economic, and political for all the people.
Importance as Moral Ideals:
Directive Principles are true of the nature of moral ideals. They constitute a moral code for the State. This does not reduce their value. Through these, the founding fathers placed before the nation the goals and ideals which are to be achieved through future legislation.
The state is a human social institution. The government is always made and managed by the people. Just as people have a moral code that guides their behavior in society, likewise there is every justification for the existence of a moral code for the men who form and run the government of the state.
Directives Constitute a Guide for the State:
Directive Principles act as a guide to the government for making policies and laws for the purpose of securing justice and welfare.
Source of continuity in Policies:
The Directive Principles are a source of continuity in the policies of the government. In a democratic system, the governments change after regular intervals and each new government has to make policies and laws. The presence of Directive Principles ensures that every government, whether it is formed by a rightist or a leftist party, will exercise its power for implementing Directive Principles.
Directive Principles are Supplementary to the Fundamental Rights:
Directive Principles are the positive directions to the State for securing and strengthening the socio-economic dimension of Indian democracy. These aim at the establishment of socio-economic democracy. These are supplementary to Fundamental Rights which provide for civil and political rights and freedoms.
Yardstick for measuring the Worth of the Government:
Directive Principles of State Policy constitute a yardstick with which the people can measure the worth of a government. A government that ignores the task of implementing the Directive Principles can be rejected by the people in favor of a government by another political party which can be expected to give due importance to the task of securing the Directive Principles.
Helpful in the interpretation of the Constitution:
The Directive Principles constitute a manifesto of the aims and goals of the nation. These reflect the wisdom and views of the founding fathers of the constitution. These reflect the philosophy of the Constitution and hence provide useful help to the courts in their task of interpreting the Constitution.
Ambiguity of Directive Principles is Useful:
The Directive Principles have been couched in words that are not very rigid in their meanings. This ambiguity has been helpful in so far as it helps the State to interpret and apply these principles in accordance with the socio-economic environment which prevails at a given time.
Thus, the inclusion of Part IV containing the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution has been a welcome, worthwhile, and useful decision. The Directive Principles provide for necessary and good foundations for the Indian state as a democratic and welfare polity. The securing of Directive Principles alone can complete our democratic system, supplement the Fundamental Rights of the people, and build a welfare state characterized by Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. In the words of M.C. Chagla, “If all these principles are carried out, our country would indeed be a heaven on earth.”
Inter-relationship between fundamental rights, and directive principles
The question of the relationship between the Directive Principles and the Fundamental rights has caused some difficulty, and the judicial attitude has undergone a transformation on this question over time.
What if a law enacted to enforce a directive principle infringes a fundamental right? On this question, the judicial view has veered round from irreconcilability to integration between the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles and in some of the more recent cases, to giving primacy to the Directive Principles.
Initially, the courts adopted a strict and literal legal position in this respect. The Supreme Court adopting the literal interpretative approach to Art. 37 ruled that a Directive Principle could not override a Fundamental right and that in case of conflict between the two, the Fundamental right would prevail over the Directive Principle.
The Supreme Court in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan,
“The Directive Principles of the state policy, which by Art. 37 are expressly made unenforceable by a court cannot override the provisions found in part III (fundamental rights) which, notwithstanding other provisions, are expressly made enforceable by appropriate writs, orders, or directions under article 32.
The chapter on fundamental rights is sacrosanct and not liable to be abridged by any legislative or executive act or order, except to the extent provided in the appropriate article in part III. The Directive Principles of state policy have to conform to and run as subsidiary to the chapter on Fundamental Rights.”
In course of time, The Supreme Court started giving a good deal of value to the Directive principles from a legal point of view and started arguing for harmonizing the two the Fundamental rights and Directive Principles.
In Kerala Education Bill the observed “nevertheless, in determining the scope and ambit of the Fundamental rights relied upon by or on behalf of any person or body, the court may not entirely ignore these Directive Principles of state policy laid down in part IV of the constitution but should adopt the principle of harmonious construction and should attempt to give effect to both as much as possible’’.
The Supreme Court began to assert that there is “no conflict on the whole” between the fundamental rights and the directive principles. ‘They are complementary and supplementary to each other’.
In the Golak Nath case, the Supreme Court there emphasized that the fundamental rights and directive principles formed an “integrated scheme” which was elastic enough to respond to the changing needs of the society.
In Kesavananda Bharti v. State of Kerala, the court observed:
“the fundamental rights and directive principles constitute the “conscience of the constitution” there is no antithesis between the fundamental rights and directive principles and one supplement the other.”
“both parts III (fundamental rights) and IV (directive principle) have to be balanced and a harmonized then alone the dignity of the individual can be achieved they were meant to supplement each other.,”
The Directive principles and Fundamental rights are not now regarded as exclusionary of each other. They are regarded as supplementary and complementary to each other. In course of time, the judicial attitude has veered from irreconcilability to integration of the fundamental rights and the directive principles. The directive principles which have been declared to be “fundamental” in the governance of the country cannot be isolated from fundamental rights. The directive principles have got to be read into the fundamental rights. An example of such a relationship is furnished by the “right to education”.
In Minerva Mills, the court said that the fundamental rights “are not an end in themselves but are the means to an end.” The end is specified in the directive principles. It was further observed in the same case that the fundamental rights and directive principles together “constitute the core of the commitment to social revolution and they, together, are the conscience of the constitution.” The Indian constitution is founded on the bedrock of “balance” between the two. “To give absolute primacy to one over the other is to disturb the harmony of the constitution. This harmony and balance between fundamental rights and directive principles is an essential feature of the basic structure of the constitution.”
In Dalmia Cement, the Supreme Court has emphasized that the core of the commitment of the constitution to the social revolution through rule of law lies in effectuation of the fundamental rights and directory principles as supplementary and complementary to each other. The preamble to the constitution, fundamental rights, and directive principles-the trinity-are the conscience of the constitution.
The next step in the direction of giving primacy to all directive principles over the fundamental rights was taken in 1976 when all directive principles were sought to be given precedence over Arts. 14, 19, and 31 by the 42nd amendment.
But the Supreme Court did not uphold this Amendment as constitutional. The main theme of the court’s pronouncement was that the constitution is based on the “bedrock of balance” between the directive principles and fundamental rights and to give absolute primacy to one over the other would disturb this balance.
Both can co-exist harmoniously. The goals set out in the directive principles are to be achieved without abrogating the fundamental rights. Both can flourish happily together.
The principle was restated recently by the Supreme Court in I.R. Coelho v. state of T.N.
“by enacting fundamental rights and directive principles which are negative and positive, obligations of the states, the constituent assembly made it the responsibility of the government to adopt a middle path between individual liberty and the public good. Fundamental rights and directive principles have to be balanced. The balanced can be tilted in favor of the public good. The balance, however, cannot be overturned by completely overriding individual liberty. This balance is an essential feature of the constitution.
Implementation of directive principles
Since 1950, the successive governments at the Centre and in the states have made several laws and formulated various programs for implementing the Directive Principles. These are mentioned below:
The successive Five-Year Plans aimed at securing socio-economic justice and reducing inequalities of income, status, and opportunities. In 2015, the Planning Commission was replaced by a new body called NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).
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 the security of tenure, fair rents, etc;
- the imposition of ceilings on land holdings;
- distribution of surplus land among the landless laborers; and
- cooperative farming.
The Minimum Wages Act (1948), the Payment of Wages Act (1936), the Payment of Bonus Act (1965), the Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act (1970), the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986), the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976), the Trade Unions Act (1926), the Factories Act (1948), the Mines Act (1952), the Industrial Disputes Act (1947), the Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923) and so on have been enacted to protect the interests of the labor sections.
In 2006, the government banned child labor. In 2016, the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986) was renamed as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986.
The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Equal Remuneration Act (1976) have been made to protect the interests of women workers.
Various measures have been taken to utilize the financial resources for promoting the common good. These include nationalization of life insurance (1956), the nationalization of fourteen leading commercial banks (1969), nationalization of general insurance (1971), abolition of Privy Purses (1971), and so on.
The Legal Services Authorities Act (1987) has established a nation-wide network to provide free and competent legal aid to the poor and to organize Lok adalats for promoting equal justice. Lok Adalat is a statutory forum for conciliatory settlement of legal disputes. It has been given the status of a civil court. Its awards are enforceable, binding on the parties, and final as no appeal lies before any court against them.
0 Response to "Directive Principles of State Policy(Article 36-51)"
Post a Comment