These Directive Principles follow the ideas of ‘socialism’. These principles put special emphasis on providing social and economic justice to the people and attaining a welfare state. The articles in DPSP which advocate socialist principles are – Article 38, Article 39, Article 39 A, Article 41, Article 42, Article 43, Article 43 A and Article 47.

Article 38: Ensuring Social, Political, and Economic Justice for All Citizens

• It mandates that the State must establish a social structure that ensures social, political, and economic justice for all its citizens.
• Article 38(2) provides that the state should try to reduce the inequalities faced by the people on the grounds of income, status, facilities, opportunities, etc. The government should work towards eliminating inequalities not only among individuals but also groups of people which are residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations. The clause concerning ‘Reducing inequalities’ was incorporated by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978.

Article 39: Guiding Principles for Economic Justice and Worker Welfare

Article 39 mentions all the Principles of policy which must be followed by the State.

The State shall make its policies towards securing the following objectives:

• Article 39 (a): All the men, women and citizens should have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.
• Article 39 (b): The ownership and control of the people over any material resources under the community should be so distributed as best to subserve the common good; 
• Article 39 (c): The economic system should operate in a way that prevents the accumulation of wealth and production resources to the disadvantage of the general public.  
• Article 39 (d): There should be equal compensation for equal labor provided by both men and women; 
• Article 39 (e): The well-being and physical capability of workers, both men and women, as well as the young age of children, should not be exploited, and citizens should not be compelled to engage in jobs that are unsuitable for their age or physical condition due to economic pressures;
• Article 39 (f): The well-being and physical capability of workers, both men and women, as well as the young age of children, should not be exploited, and citizens should not be compelled to engage in jobs that are unsuitable for their age or physical condition due to economic pressures. 

Article 39(f) was revised by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act of 1976. Earlier, Article 39(f) declared that “childhood and youth shall be safeguarded against exploitation or manipulation and against moral and material neglect.”

Government Initiatives for Socio-Economic Justice and Economic Reforms in India

• Establishment of Planning Commission: In 1950, the Planning Commission was established with the aim of securing socio-economic justice and reducing income inequalities. 
• Land Reforms: Almost every state has passed land reform laws to bring changes in the agrarian society and to improve the conditions of rural India. These measures include:

• The removal of intermediaries such as zamindars, jagirdars, and inamdars, etc. 
• Reforms in tenancy, including guarantees of tenure and reasonable rent rates, etc
• Imposition of ceilings on land holdings
• The allocation of excess land to those without land ownership, particularly landless laborers
• Cooperative farming

• Steps taken to Rationalise the Financial Resources: Various measures have been taken to utilise the financial resources for promoting the common good. These include: 

1. Nationalisation of life insurance (1956), 
2. Nationalisation of fourteen leading commercial banks (1969), 
3. Nationalisation of general insurance (1971), 
4. Abolition of Privy Purses (1971)

Article 39A: Ensuring Equal Justice and Access to Free Legal Aid

The article states that the State shall secure operation of a legal system which promotes justice, by providing equal opportunity to access it. In particular, the state shall provide free legal aid through any suitable legislation or schemes to ensure that opportunity to access Justice is not denied to a citizen due to economic or other disability.

Article 39A was added by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976.

Implementation of Article 39A

• Steps taken to provide Free Legal Aid: The Legal Services Authorities Act (1987) has established a nation-wide network to provide free and competent legal aid to the poor and to organise Lok Adalat for promoting equal justice. Lok Adalat is a statutory forum for conciliatory settlement of legal disputes. The institution has been designated as a civil court. Its decisions are enforceable, obligatory for the parties involved, and conclusive as there is no avenue for appeal in any court against them. 

Article 41: Ensuring the Right to Work, Education and Public Assistance in India

• It states that the state, within the bounds of its economic capabilities, shall take effective measures to ensure the right to employment, education, and public assistance in instances of unemployment, old age, disability, and other forms of unmerited poverty. 

Government Initiatives to Implement Article 41

• NREGA, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed by the parliament in 2005 as a social security measure which aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’.
• Various other schemes implement this directive principle. Some examples include; National social assistance programme a centrally sponsored scheme provides financial assistance to the elderly, widows, and people with disabilities in the form of social pensions.  The Ayushman Bharat scheme is a National Health Protection initiative that supports over 10 crore economically disadvantaged families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) by providing coverage of up to 5 lakh rupees per family each year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization

Article 42: Ensuring Humane Work Conditions and Maternity Relief in India

• It states that the government is responsible for ensuring fair and humane working conditions and providing maternity assistance.

Government Initiatives for Maternity Relief and Support for Pregnant Women in India 

The government has implemented several measures to support pregnant women

• The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a conditional cash transfer initiative designed to encourage institutional childbirth.

• The Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) guarantees that every pregnant woman can access free delivery services, including Caesarean sections

• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women with free of cost assured and quality Antenatal Care on the 9th day of every month.

• The LaQshya initiative (Labour room Quality Improvement Initiative) aims to enhance the quality of care in labor rooms and maternity operation theaters, ensuring that pregnant women receive respectful and high-quality treatment during delivery and immediately after. 
• The parliament passed The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 which enhanced the duration of paid maternity leave available to women employed from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

Article 43: Ensuring Living Wages and Decent Work for Workers in India

• It emphasizes that the government should strive to provide all workers with a living wage, work conditions that ensure a decent standard of living, as well as opportunities for leisure, social, and cultural engagement. Specifically, the government should focus on promoting cottage industries on an individual or cooperative basis in rural areas. 

Government Initiatives for Labour Welfare

• Labour Reforms: The following acts were enacted to protect the interests of the Labour section of the society and aim to provide adequate wage and decent standard of living 

1. The Minimum Wages Act (1948), Code on Wages, 2020
2. The Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act (1970)
3. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986) Renamed as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 in 2016.
4. The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976)
5. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
6. The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Equal Remuneration Act (1976) have been passed to protect the interests of women workers.

Article 43A: Ensuring Worker Participation in Industrial Management

• It states that the government should take appropriate measures, through legislation or other means, to ensure worker participation in the management of businesses or enterprises in any industry.

Government Measures for Ensuring Worker Participation in Industrial Management

• Various schemes by the Government provide provisions for ensuring the participation of the workers in the management of Industries, for example Works committee is provided under Industrial dispute act, Joint management councils are provided to discuss various matters relating to working of the Industry; these have equal number of representatives from both employer and side of employees, the establishment of Joint councils is present in all industrial units with more than 500 employees, among others etc. 

Article 47: Ensuring Improved Nutrition, Living Standards, and Public Health in India

• It states that the government must consider ways to enhance the nutrition and living standards of its citizens, and it is the responsibility of the State to monitor the advancement of public health. 

Government Initiatives for Rural Development, Nutrition, and Public Health Improvement

• Rural Area Development: To raise the standard of living in rural areas the government had started programmes such as the Community Development Programme (1952), Integrated Rural Development Programme (1978-79) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA-2006).
• Various steps have been taken to improve the level of nutrition for example providing Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). Recently, Poshan Abhiyaan, also known as the National Nutrition Mission was launched to improve nutritional outcomes among adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers.