38.State to secure 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.

COMMENTS

This provision recognized the need to eliminate and minimize the inequalities in income, which applied not only to individuals but also to groups in different geographical areas or different fields of work.

39. Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State:

The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing-

(a) that the citizens, 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 determent;

(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 in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitations and against moral and material abandonment.

COMMENTS

This Article specially requires the State to ensure for its people the adequate means of livelihood, fair distribution of wealth, equal work and protection of child and labour.

Also in the case of Kameshwar Singh, it was stated that a law required at doing away with the concentration of big blocks of lands in the hands of few individuals, would subserve the doctrines contained in the sub. (b) and (c ) of Article 39. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 owes its existence to the provision provided under Article 39(c). After the enactment of the Competition Act, 2002, the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Act, 1969 stands repealed. Under the Competition Act, 2002, inter alia, the abuse of dominance is a restricted activity. Which is to control concentration of wealth in few hands.

Article 39(d) is enforced through the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. This statute commands against discrimination between men and women who perform similar works.

In Randhir Singh vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court has held that although the principle of equal pay for equal work is not expressly declared by our Constitution to be a fundamental right, but it is certainly a constitutional goal under Articles 14, 16 and 39(d) of the Constitution.

In the landmark case, i.e. Kesavananda Bharati, the Supreme Court held that the substantive provision of Article 31C which abrogates the fundamental rights in the interest of the land reforms is valid but the latter part of Article 31C which ousts the jurisdiction of the court is invalid,. Article 39(b) and (c) contain the elaborate mechanism of socialist and egalitarian society. Thus even a socialist government can come in power and implements its wide-ranging socialist measures.

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 seuring justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

COMMENTS

In pursuance of this provision, Parliament has passed the Legal Services Authorities Act , 1987 and free legal aid is available from the District court to the highest court.

40.Organization 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.

COMMENTS

In the constitutional Assembly, members wanted to keep Panchayat Raj as one of the fundamental rights. Mahatma Gandhi also advocated for panchayats. But the new Legislators after assuming power overlooked Panchayat to wield unbridled powers themselves, which ultimately bred corruption .In the year 1992 by 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, Part IX was added to the Constitution creating Panchayats at three tiers, i.e. village, block and district. Now the ideal of the constitutional units of self-government.