Salient Features of the Constitution — II

Directive Principles of State Policy

All of the above

directions

Not Justiciable

They enlighten and educate people about profitability for the nation

P and Q

All of the above

Health

The Directive Principles of state policy are the guidelines to be followed by the government in the governance of the country. They are not a substitute for laws of the country. The government has to take them into consideration while making laws.

Directive Principles are incorporated in part IV of the constitution, under Article 36 to 51.

Four important sources of Directive Principles are:

1. The Constitution of the Irish Republic
2. The Ideas of Mahatma Gandhi
3. The Charter of Human Rights framed by the United Nations
4. The declaration of the rights of Man and Citizens of revolutionary France

The Directive Principles are not enforceable by law courts, still they are very important. This importance stems from following:

1. Directive Principles are in the nature of a pledge made by the framers of the Constitution to the people of India. They provide a framework, political, social and economic programme for a modern democratic State.
2. The Directive Principles give guidelines to the governments to make laws and draft their policies, according to these fundamental principles. They provide an element of permanence in a democracy.
3. They provide a measure to judge a government's performance.
4. They enlighten and educate the people of what they can expect from the politicians whom they vote to power.
5. They provide a direction to Courts in respect of safeguarding the rights of the citizens.

In case of any conflict between the Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights, the former shall prevail. This is because the welfare of the people as a whole is of paramount importance over that of an individual.

'The Right to Education' Act is one of the measures taken by the Government towards implementation of the Directive Principles of State Policy.

The Right to Education Act has made it mandatory for every child between the ages of 6-14 to be provided free education in all government and government aided schools. The Act also requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats for the children belonging to economically weaker sections of the society as a part of the public-private partnership plan.

(a) Three differences between Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights are:

(b) Although the Directive Principles are not justiciable like Fundamental Rights but they are necessary for creating an atmosphere where Fundamental Rights can be enjoyed. The Directive Principles give guidelines to the Government to make laws and draft their policies in accordance to the welfare of people. They provide a direction to the Courts in respect of safeguarding the rights of the citizens. Thus we can say that the Directive Principles and the Fundamental Rights complement each other.

(c) The importance of the Directive Principles are following:

1. Directive Principles are in the nature of a pledge made by the framers of the Constitution to the people of India. They provide a framework, political, social and economic programme for a modern democratic State.
2. The Directive Principles give guidelines to the governments to make laws and draft their policies, according to these fundamental principles. They provide an element of permanence in a democracy.
3. They provide a measure to judge a government's performance.
4. They enlighten and educate the people of what they can expect from the politicians whom they vote to power.
5. They provide a direction to Courts in respect of safeguarding the rights of the citizens.
6. The Directive Principles direct the government to move towards the goal of a Welfare State. They reflect the ideas of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity mentioned in the Preamble.
7. Since public opinion backs the Directive Principles, the goal of establishing social and economic order is clearly laid out before the government.
8. The 42^nd Amendment Act, 1976 provides that if a law is made to give effect to any of the Directive Principles it will not be declared unconstitutional even if it takes away any of the rights under Articles 14, 19 and 31.

(a) A Welfare State is a state which seeks to ensure the maximum happiness of maximum number of people living within its territory.

(b) The Constitution of India seeks to established India as a Welfare State. Although the words "Welfare State" are not specifically mentioned in the constitution, the aims and objectives of a Welfare State are clearly pointed out in the Directive Principles of State Policy. These Directives emphasise that the goal of the Indian Polity is a Welfare State, where the State has a positive duty to ensure to its citizens social and economic justice and dignity to the individual.

(c) Four government schemes aimed at social upliftment of the poor are:

1. Ayushman Bharat Yojna
2. Pradhan Mantri Samaan Nidhi Yojana
3. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
4. Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (Housing for All)

The Directive Principles of State Policy are not justiciable by any court of law because they are only a set of guidelines for policy makers or the government. They are called so because the government has to take them in consideration while making laws. These principles contain lofty ideas, deep human thoughts, belief and knowledge. The policy makers can take these thoughts and ideas into consideration while making laws in a way to create certain privileges for the citizens of India. The directive Principles have wider scope as they deal with wide range of subjects and aim at establishment of a welfare state. They are not rules or rights and therefore, they are not justiciable. They are just moral obligation on state authority for establishment of a welfare state.

Weaker section of society in India in ordinary sense refers to the section of population who are socially, economically, politically and educationally backward than the other section. They suffer due to their backwardness. Our constitution has many provisions for welfare of weaker sections in Indian society. The Directive principles provide us guideline for drafting policies for them.

If I would have been made Minister of Social Welfare, I would have given emphasis on their education because education is the ultimate tool that can help them to uplift their conditions. They should be aware about their rights. My priorities for their upliftment would have been:

1. Providing them with healthcare and education facilities.
2. Self employment schemes for them in order to make them self dependent.
3. Provisions for vocational training of men and women.
4. Eradicating corruption as it will help to realization of all the policies made for the people.