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Directive Principles of State Policy

Submitted to

Submitted by

Mrs. Alka
pandey

Mehta Shivanshu
Semester-1

(Faculty English)

Section-A
Roll no.-154
Submitted on-

26 -8-15

Declaration
I hereby declare that this project Directive Principles of state policy which is
submitted to HidayatullahNational LawUiniversity,Raipur is a record of an original work
done by me under the guidance of Mrs. Alka Mehta,faculty ofEnglish,Hidayatullah National

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Law University, Raipur and this project work has not performed the basis for the award of
any Degree or diploma fellowship and similar project if any.

Shivanshu Pandey
Section-A
Semester-1
Roll no-154

Acknowledgements
I feel highly elated to work on the topic Directive principal of state policy.I express
my deepest regard and gratitude for our Faculty of English. Her consistent supervision,
constant inspiration and invaluable guidance have been of immense help in understanding
and carrying out the importance of the project report.

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I also want to thank the University for providing free and unlimited use of internet and the
well stocked library which played a very important role in completion of this project.I want to
thank the Respected Vice Chancellor of the University for giving us the opportunity of being
a part of this institution.

Shivanshu Pandey
Section -A
Roll no-.154

Abstract
The directive principal of state policy are enumerated in part IV of the constitution from
Articles 36 to 51 the framers of the constitution borrowed this idea from the Irish constitution
of 1937 which had copied it from the Spanish constitution .The phrase Directive principles

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of state policy denotes the ideals that the state should keep in mind while formulating
policies and enacting laws. These are the constitutional instructions or recommendations to
state in legislative, executive and administrative matters.
Since 1950 the successive government at the centre and in the states have made several laws
and formulated various programmers for implementing the directive principles. Almost all the
states have passed land reform , the minimum wages act (1948) are such examples.

Tableof content

Introduction..................7

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History..........8
Salient Feature of DPSP...................9
Significance of DPSP ....................12
Implementation of DPSP13
Amendment on DPSP15
Effect of 42nd Amendment on DPSP.....15
Conclusion.16
Reference...........17

Research Methodology

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This project report is based on Descriptive Research Methodology. Secondary and Electronic
resources have been largely used to gather information and data about the topic. Books and
other reference as guided by Faculty have been primarily helpful in giving this project a firm
structure

Introduction
.

The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines/principles given to the central and
state governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies. These
provisions, contained in Part IV of the Constitution of India, are not enforceable by any court,
but the principles laid down therein are considered fundamental in the governance of the

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country, making it the duty of the State1 to apply these principles in making laws to establish
a just society in the country. The principles have been inspired by the Directive Principles
given in the
Constitution of Ireland and also by the principles of Gandhism and relate to social
justice, economic welfare, foreign policy, and legal and administrative matters.
Directive Principles are classified under the following categories: Gandhian, economic and
socialistic, political and administrative, justice and legal, environmental, protection of
monuments and peace and security

History
The concept of Directive Principles of State Policy was borrowed from the Irish
Constitution. The makers of the Constitution of India were influenced by the Irish
nationalist movement. Hence, the Directive Principles of the Indian constitution
have been greatly influenced by the Directive Principles of State Policy.]2The idea
of such policies "can be traced to the Declaration of the Rights of
Man proclaimed by Revolutionary France and the Declaration of Independence by
1The term "State" includes all authorities within the territory of India. It includes the Government of India
the Parliament of India, the Government and legislature of the states of India. It also includes all local or
other authorities such as Municipal Corporations, Municipal Boards, District Boards, Panchayats etc. To
avoid confusion with the term states and territories of India, State (encompassing all the authorities in India)
has been capitalized and the term state is in lowercase.

2Tayal, B.B. & Jacob, A. (2005), Indian History, World Developments and Civics, pg. A-39

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the American Colonies."3 The Indian constitution was also influenced by

the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The fundamental rights and the directive principles of state policy are of common
origin. The Nehru Report of 1928 had contained a Swaraj Constitution of India
which incorporated some fundamental rights. These also included some rights as
right to education. However, during the drafting of the constitution, the following
questions needed answers before a chapter was to be added to the constitution:
What rights should be fundamental? The question was if the right to life, liberty
and property were fundamental, then what about employment and education?
Are they going to be individualistic focussed? Are they going to be justifiable or
not justifiable? To what extent, the state of India is capable to provide
justification to those rights?
It was almost agreeable that at that point of time, it was not the capability of the
Indian State to guarantee right to employment and education to all. This means
that it was not the lack of will but was the lack of resources that the state could
not guarantee of kinds of rights. The Sapru Report of 1945 divided the
fundamental rights into two parts justifiable right and non justifiable rights.

The Justifiable rights were those enforceable by a court of law. These enforceable
rights were incorporated in the Part III of the Constitution. The non-justifiable
rights were incorporated as a directive to the state to take all measures to
provide those rights to individuals without any guarantee. They were
incorporated in the part IV of the constitution and were called Directive Principles
of State Policy.

SALIENT FEATURES OF DPSP

The State, who is directed, is defined in Article 12 (Article 36)

Directive principles are not enforceable by any court. However, Constitution

mandates that it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in the

3Pylee, M.V. (1999). India's Constitution. New Delhi: S. Chand and Company. ISBN 81-219-1907-X

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governance. This is because the implementation of these principles would require

resources which the state may not have. (Article 37)

State has to secure a social order with economic, political and social justice for the
promotion and welfare of the people. The state shall strive to minimize the

inequalities of income, status, facilities, opportunities etc. (Article 38)

Article 39 says that state shall secure
That all citizens (men & women) have equal right to means of livelihood.

That the ownership and control of the material resources are so distributed that
That the operations of the economic system dont result in the concentration of

wealth for some.

There is equal pay for equal work for men and women.
The health and strength of the workers (men & women) and children are not

abused.
Children are given opportunities to develop in healthy manner and they

are protected against exploitation.

Equal Justice and Free legal aid (Article 39A) was inserted by Constitution 42nd
amendment act 1976 (w.e.f. 3.1.1977). This article says that 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 says that the state shall take steps to organize 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 says that state shall (within its limits of economic capacity &
development) will make effective provisions for securing right to work, education

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etc. and to Public Assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness,

disablement or any other case of undeserved want.

Article 42 says that state shall make provisions for securing just and humane
conditions for work and for maternity relief

Article 43 says that the state will Endeavour to secure by suitable legislations or
economic organizations or in 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 & social cultural opportunities and in particular promote

cottage industries on an individual or cooperative basis in rural areas.

Article 44 says that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil

code throughout the territory of India.

Article 45 says that 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. This article remains
substituted by the 86thamendment act 2002 and it says:

-Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years.
The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until
they complete the age of six years.

Article 46 says 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 says that 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

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primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition
of the consumptionexcept for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs

which are injurious to health.

Article 48 says that the State shall endeavour 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 was added in the constitution by 42ndamendment act 1976. The State
shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests

and wild life of the country.

Article 49 says that 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 says that State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive

in the public services of the State.

Article 51 says that The State shall endeavour to promote international peace and
security, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, foster respect for
international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one
another; and encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

Significance of DPSP
The directive principles place an ideal before the legislator of India which shows that light
while they frame the policies & laws. They are basically a code of conduct for the legislature
and administrators of the country. The show the path to the leaders of the country which takes

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the country to achieve the ideal of the constitution embodied in the Preamble Justice, Social,
Economic, Political; liberty, equality and fraternity.

Implementation of DPSP
The Government of India and Various state governments have done many efforts to
implement the Directive Principles of State policy and create a welfare state. It may be stated
that the state has not been able to make the country a welfare state in the last 6 decades yet,
the pace of the development, when we compare it with the pace of development in the British
Era, is satisfactory. Following are some of the programmes & legislations which have
inspired the state to achieve the objective enshrined in the DPSP:
The efforts of translating the directive principles into reality are first of all evident in the five
year plans. The first five year plan was initiated soon after commencement of the constitution
and the basic objective of the public policy has been promotion of rapid & balanced
economic development.

The objective of generalisation of the elementary education was in the development

programmes. And after the 86th amendment act which inserted Article 21A in the
constitution, the state seeks to provide free and compulsory education to all children between
6-14 years.
A lot of land reform programmes have been launched to lift the social and economic status of
the poor and landless farmers of the country. The Panchayats have been established in the

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remotest areas of the country and there is a separate ministry of Panchayati Raj which seeks
to bring back the lost glory of the Panchayats.

The state owned factories, industries and corporations are expanding and more and more
people have been given employment. Various legislations such as The Employees State
Insurance Act, Workmen Compensation Act, The Minimum Wages Act etc. some of the
efforts which try to establish a just order taking guidelines from the DPSP. Government
enacted Equal Remuneration Act in 1976which provides equal pay for equal work for both
men and women.

The government has launched National Social Assistance Programme for the poor and old
age people, which involves Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National
Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
(IGNDPS), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and Annapurna.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) was introduced
in 2005 as NREGA to enforce the directive principle embodied in the article 39 41.To
enhance the nutritional level of the children and adolescent girls a lot of programmes have
been launched such as Mid-day meal scheme, ICDS, SABLA ET

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Amendment in DPSP
Amendment in DPSP can be possible by the parliament through the article 368 which talks
about amendment can be done in the constitution.

Effect of 42nd Amendment on DPSP

The Forty-second Amendment, which came into force in January 1977, attempted to raise the
status of the Directive Principles by stating that no law implementing any of the Directive
Principles could be declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated any of the
Fundamental Rights. The amendment simultaneously stated that laws prohibiting
"antinational activities" or the formation of "antinational associations" could not be
invalidated because they infringed on any of the Fundamental Rights. It added a new section
to the constitution on "Fundamental Duties"4that enjoined citizens "to promote harmony and
the spirit of common brotherhood among all the people of India, transcending religious,
linguistic and regional or sectional diversities." However, the amendment reflected a new
emphasis in governing circles on order and discipline to counteract what some leaders had
come to perceive as the excessively freewheeling style of Indian democracy. After the March
1977 general election ended the control of the Congress (Congress (R) from 1969) over the
executive and legislature for the first time since independence in 1947, the new Janatadominated Parliament passed the Forty-third Amendment (1977) and Forty-fourth
Amendment (1978). These amendments revoked the Forty-second Amendment's provision

4The fundamental duties are given in part IV A of Indian constitution in Article

51A

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that Directive Principles take precedence over Fundamental Rights 5 and also curbed
Parliament's power to legislate against "antinational activities.

Conclusion
The Directive Principles commit the State to promote the welfare of the people by affirming
social, economic a d political justice, aswell as to fight economic implemented by the state
inequality. If directive is not obeyed its obedience or implementation cannot be secured
through judicial proceedings. Directive Principles mean that they will not be binding on the
State; in any case, they would not be enforceable in a court of law. It was the intention
Assembly of the Constituent Assembly that in future both legislature and executives should
not merely pay lip service to these principles enacted but they should be made the basis of all
executive and legislative action that may be taken in the matter of governance of the country.
5The fundamental rights are given in part III of constitution of india from article
12 to 35 .

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The Directive Principles commit the State to raise the standard of living and improve public
health. It should also organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific
lines by improving breeds and prohibiting slaughter of cows, calves, and draught cattle. The
State must safeguard the environment and wildlife of the country. The Directive Principles
exhort the state to ensure that citizens have an adequate means of livelihood, that the
operation of the economic system and the ownership and control of the material resources of
the country sub serve the common good, that the health of the workers, including children is
not abused the special consideration be given to pregnant women thus directive principal of
state policy is sole of the objective of the constitution.

Reference

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DPSP
academia.edu.com
Lucents general knowledge lucent publication Patna
gk today.com/DPSP