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

Directive Principles of State Policy are a set of guidelines or principles enshrined in Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) of the Constitution of India. Unlike fundamental rights, which are justiciable and can be enforced by the courts, Directive Principles are non-justiciable. This means that they are not legally enforceable by the courts, but they serve as important guidelines for the government in formulating policies and laws. Read here to know them in detail.

Part IV of the Indian Constitution deals with the Directive Principles of our 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.

The concept of Directive Principles of State Policy was borrowed from the Irish Constitution. 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.

Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)

The Directive Principles of State Policy aim to promote the welfare of the people, ensure social and economic justice, and create a just and equitable society. They provide a framework for the government to strive towards achieving certain socio-economic goals, even though they may not be immediately attainable due to various constraints.

• While the Directive Principles themselves are not legally enforceable, they are considered fundamental in the governance of the country.
• They guide the formulation of policies and laws by the government and are taken into consideration by the legislature while enacting laws.
• Over the years, many judicial decisions and legislative measures have been influenced by the spirit of the Directive Principles.
• The balance between fundamental rights and Directive Principles is essential for creating a just and equitable society that respects individual freedoms while striving for the welfare of all citizens.

Some of the key principles outlined in the DPSP include:

1. Equal Pay for Equal Work: Ensuring that men and women receive equal pay for equal work.
2. Right to Work, Education, and Public Assistance in Certain Cases: Ensuring opportunities for work, education, and public assistance, particularly for marginalized sections of society.
3. Provision of Adequate Means of Livelihood: Ensuring that the citizens have the means to earn a livelihood that is adequate and sustainable.
4. Equal Justice and Free Legal Aid: Ensuring that justice is accessible to all and that free legal aid is provided to those who cannot afford it.
5. Promotion of Educational and Economic Interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Weaker Sections: Ensuring the development and protection of marginalized communities.
6. Protection of Monuments and Places of National Importance: Preserving cultural heritage and historical sites.
7. Promotion of International Peace and Security: Pursuing policies that contribute to international peace and security.
8. Uniform Civil Code: Striving to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.
9. Protection of the Environment: Promoting sustainable development and protecting the environment.

DPSP in detail

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 the 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 –

(a) that the citizen, men, and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood;
(b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;
(c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; 
(d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women;
(e) 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;
(f) that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and 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 because 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, education, and 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, education, and 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 provisions 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 organizations engaged in any industry.

Article 43B: Promotion of cooperative societies

The State shall endeavor to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control, and professional management of cooperative societies.

This Article was not a part of the Constitution of India 1950 and was inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011. It directs the State to promote the democratic functioning of cooperative societies.

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

The State shall endeavor to provide, within 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 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 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 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 State shall endeavor to –

(a) promote international peace and security;
(b) maintain just and honorable relations between nations;
(c) foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organized people with one another; and
(d) encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

Amendments to DPSP

The DPSP has been amended four times.

• 42nd Amendment 1976: It added four new directive principles- Article 39, Article 39A, Article 43A, and Article 48A.
• 44th Amendment 1978: The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 created a new DPSP under Article 38, which mandates the State to reduce inequalities in income, status, facilities, and opportunities.
• 86th Amendment 2002: It altered Article 45’s subject matter, and under Article 21A, basic education became a fundamental right.
• 97th Amendment 2011: The 97th Amendment Act of 2011 created a new DPSP for cooperative societies under Article 43B.