Criticism of DPSP:

• No legal force: They were described as ‘pious superfluities’ and was compared to a blank cheque, new year’s resolutions, manifestation of aims and aspirations
• Illogically arranged: DPSP have been criticized for being arranged in an illogical manner and without any consistent philosophy
• Conservative and orthodox: Some provisions are outdated and are not consistent with 21^st century philosophies. Ex: Banning intoxicating drinks
• Might lead to confusion and conflicts
• Can cause conflicts between centre and states during implementation of DPSP
• Constitutional cases were high during the initial stages concerning the conflicts between FRs and DPSP

Previous Year’s Questions

Prelims:

1. Which of the following is/are included in the Directive Principles of the State Policy? (2008)
2. 1. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour
   2. Prohibition of consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of other drugs which are injurious to health

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

2. With reference to the Constitution of India, consider the following:

1. Fundamental Rights
2. Fundamental duties
3. Directive Principles of State Policy

Which of the above provisions of the Constitution of India is/are fulfilled by the National Social Assistance Programme launched by the government of India?

1. 1 only
2. 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

3. Consider the following provisions under the Directive Principles of State Policy as enshrined in the Constitution of India:

1. Securing for citizens of India a uniform civil code
2. Organising village Panchayats
3. Promoting cottage industries in rural areas
4. Securing for all the workers reasonable leisure and cultural opportunities

Which of the above are the Gandhiyan Principles that are reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy?

1. 1, 2 and 4 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1, 3 and 4 only
4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

4. Which of the following provisions of the Constitution of India have a bearing on Education? (2012)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
3. Fifth Schedule
4. Sixth Schedule
5. Seventh Schedule

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3,4 and 5 only
3. 1, 2 and 5 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

5. According to the Constitution of India, which of the following are fundamental for the governance of the country? (2013)

1. Fundamental Rights
2. Fundamental Duties
3. Directive Principles of State Policy
4. Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties

6. In the Constitution of India, promotion of international peace and security is included in the (2014)

1. Preamble to the Constitution
2. Directive Principles of State Policy
3. Fundamental Duties
4. Ninth Schedule

7. The ideal of Welfare State in the Indian Constitution is enshrined in its (2015)

1. Preamble
2. Directive Principles of State Policy
3. Fundamental Rights
4. Seventh Schedule

8. Consider the following statements regarding the Directive Principles of State Policy: (2015)

1. The Principles spell out the socio-economic democracy in the country.
2. The provisions contained in these Principles are not enforceable by any court.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

9. Which principle among the following was added to the Directive Principles of State Policy by the 42^nd Amendment to the Constitution? (2017)

1. Equal pay for equal work for both men and women
2. Participation of workers in the management of industries
3. Right to work, education and public assistance
4. Securing living wage and human conditions of work to workers

10. Consider the following statements: (2017)

With reference to the Constitution of India, the Directive Principles of State Policy constitute limitations upon

1. legislative function
2. executive function

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

11. Which part of the Constitution of India declares the ideal of Welfare state? (2020)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Fundamental rights
3. Preamble
4. Seventh schedule

12. One common agreement between Gandhism and Marxism is: (2020)

1. The final goal of a stateless society
2. Class struggle
3. Abolition of private property
4. Economic determinism

13. With reference to the provisions contained in part IV of the constitution of India, which of the following statements is/are correct? (2020)

1. They shall be enforceable by courts
2. They shall not be enforceable by any court
3. The principles laid down in this part are to influence the making of laws by the state

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 2 and 3 only

14. In India, separation of judiciary from the executive is enjoined by (2020)

1. The Preamble of the Constitution
2. A Directive Principle of state Policy
3. The Seventh schedule
4. The conventional practice

15. Under the Indian constitution concentration of wealth violates (2021)
(a) The Right to Equality
(b) The Directive Principles of State Policy
(c) The Right to Freedom
(d) The Concept of Welfare

Answers:

1. (b) Statement 1 is a Fundamental Right under article 23 of Part III of the constitution. Statement 2 corresponds to DPSP under Article 47 under Part IV of the Constitution.
2. (b) National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) which came into effect from 15^th August, 1995 represents a significant step towards the fulfilment of the DPSP in Article 41 of the Constitution.
3. (b)
4. (d)
5. (c) DPSP are guidelines to the central and state govt. of india to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies. DPSPs aim to create social and economic conditions under whih the citizens can lead a good life. They also aim to establish social and economic democracy through a welfare state. They act as a check on the government. It is a yardstick in the hands of the people to measure the performance of the govt. it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws.
6. (b)
7. (b)
8. (c)
9. (b) The 42^nd Amendment Act of 1976 added four new Directive Principles to the original list. They require the State:

1. To secure opportunities for healthy development of children (Article 39)
2. To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39A)
3. To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43A)

1. To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wild life (Article 48A)

10. (d) The phrase ‘Directive Principles 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 the State in legislative, executive and administrative matters.

11. (a)

12. (a) Stateless Societies: a society which lacks formal institutions of government. Gandhiji is a philosophical anarchist. Gandhiyan Ramrajya is that it is a self-regulating system where everyone is one’s own ruler.

Marxism revolves a classless society and stateless society. Karl Marx had predicted that the proletariats will take control of the state and production, thus, destroy all class differences and class antagonisms, and finally resulting in the ‘withering away of the state’. Thus the end result will be a stateless society.

13. (d)
14. (b)
15. (b)

Mains:

1. Discuss the possible factors that inhibit India from enacting for its citizens a uniform civil code as provided for in the Directive Principles of State Policy. (2015)
2. bring out the differences between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. Discuss some of the measures taken by the Union and State Governments for the implementation of the Directive Principles of State Policy. (2007)
3. Discuss the constitutional provisions related to non-justiciable directives binding upon the states. (2002)
4. What is the constitutional position of Directive Principles of State Policy? How has it been interpreted by the Judiciary after the emergency in 1975-77? (2001)
5. What is the importance of Directive Principle of State Policy? Mention which Directive Principles of State Policy have got primacy over the Fundamental Rights? (1999)

Answers:

1. A Uniform Civil Code essentially refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters of all citizens of the country irrespective of religion. Article 44 of the Indian constitution says- “The state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) throughout the territory of India.”

Possible factors that inhibit India from enacting for its citizens a uniform civil code:

1. No common ground: It is very tough to find a common ground between different communities. The customary practices among communities varies a lot. It is not easy to carry all people with a commonly accepted code.
2. May violate fundamental rights: There is an apprehension that the uniform civil code may be in conflict with the fundamental rights of freedom of conscience of free profession, practice and propagation of religions (Article 26) and the freedom to manage religious affairs (Article 25).
3. Opposition from the religious groups: This is one of the most trivial and obvious hurdle to bring up the UCC. The fundamentalism which is deep rooted in many of the religions in India doesn’t seem to vanish even in the 21^st century.
4. Political willpower: The government should have the will to face the consequences of abolishing the personal laws of the major religions and to convince the people of justice and reform they want to bring to the society in order to grow better as a nation.
5. Practical difficulties due to diversity in India: It is practically tough to come up with a common and uniform set of rules for personal issues like marriage due to tremendous cultural diversity India across religions, sects, castes, states etc.
6. Perception of UCC as encroachment on religious freedom: Many communities, particularly minority communities perceive Uniform Civil Code as an encroachment on their rights to religious freedom. They fear that a common code will neglect their traditions and impose rules which will be mainly dictated and influenced by the majority religious communities.
7. Sensitive and tough task: Such a code, in its true spirit, must be brought about by borrowing freely from different personal laws, making gradual changes in each, issuing judicial pronouncements ensuring gender equality, and adopting expansive interpretations on marriage, maintenance, adoption, and succession by acknowledging the benefits that one community secures from the others. This task will be very demanding time and human resource wise.
8. False conceptions: Many people still do not know what the uniform civil code really means. There are still false conceptions surrounding it, especially among the minorities. UCC is also sometimes perceived as the imposition of the Hindu code and procedures, and this adds to its opposition from the minorities. This makes a rational debate on its implementation quite difficult.

Way forward
The road to UCC is full of controversies and the political parties must take all communities under confidence before implementing a major reform such as UCC.

Thus, UCC is very central to one nation one rule concept and as time passes, its existence becomes necessary. It is thus a reform that is due in the future.

2. The Directive Principles of State Policy are embodied in Part IV of the Constitution under Articles 36 to 51. The features have been borrowed from the Irish Constitution. The Fundamental Rights enshrined in Part III of the Constitution under Articles 12 to 35, and the features have been adopted from the Constitution of USA. Granville Austin has described the Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights as the “Conscience of the Constitution”.

Difference between Fundamental Rights and DPSP:

Considering the various decisions of the Supreme Court regarding the primacy of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, at present the Fundamental Rights enjoy supremacy over the Directive Principles.

However, this does not imply that Directive Principles cannot be implemented. Fundamental Rights may be amended by the Parliament to give effect to any Directive Principles, so far the amendment is not affecting the basic structure of the Constitution.

From 1950 onwards, various programmes have been implemented to give effect to the Directive Principles. For example:

1. The Minimum Wages Act (1948), Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986), etc seek to protect the interests of the workers.
2. The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and Equal Remuneration Act (1976) have been implemented to protect the interests of women workers.

There are several other enactments by the Central and State Governments to give effects to these principles. In spite of the above steps by the Central and State governments, the DPSP have not been implemented fully due to lack of resources, social and economic condition, population.

3. The Directive Principles of State Policy are embodied in Part IV of the Indian Constitution. These are in the nature of directions or instructions to the state. These are fundamental to the governance of the country and the state has the duty in implementing them. However, if the state is not applying them in the governance, one cannot move to the court because these are non-justiciable.

However, to give due importance to these provisions, the Supreme Court in various cases has evolved a “Doctrine or Theory of Harmonisation”. It has further stated that both the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles are infact complementary to each other and together constitute an integrated scheme. But, wherever they cannot be given supplementary position, the Fundamental Rights shall prevail over the Directive Principles. So, in the present position, only Article 39(b) and Article 39(c) can be given precedence over Articles and 14, 19.

Articles 39(b) and 39(c) direct the state to shape to policy towards securing equitable distribution of the material resources of the community and to prevent concentration of wealth and means of production. This provision aims to establish equality in the society and therefore laws giving effect to these principles cannot be taken to be violation of the Fundamental Rights under Articles 14 and 19 which guarantee Right to Equality and Rights to Freedom respectively.

4. The Directive Principles of State Policy are embodied in Part IV of the Indian Constitution. These are in the nature of directions or instructions to the state. These are fundamental to the governance of the country and the state has the duty in implementing them. Various provisions of the Directives have achieved status of the Fundamental Rights. The Directives contained in Article – 39(b) and (c) have been given supremacy over the Fundamental Rights contained in Article 14 and 19.

Trend of the judicial interpretation regarding the Directive Principles has completely changed after the emergency in 1975-77. The Supreme Court, in the case of Minerva Mills Ltd. 1980 gave the doctrine of harmonious construction between the fundamental rights and the directives which has effectively directed the states to protect the rights provided under part IV. It interpreted and gave status to many of the Directive Principles as the Fundamental Rights. For example, Equal Pay for Equal Work, Right to Education, Free Legal Aid, Speedy Trial, Protection of Children from Exploitation, Abolition of Child Labour, Protection of Working Women from Sexual Harassment, Right to Work and Medical assistance to workers, Protection of Ecology and Environmental pollution etc. have been raised to the status of the fundamental rights. Thus, constructive trend has been taken by the Supreme Court after the emergency in 1975-77.

5. The Directive Principles of State Policy are mentioned in Part-IV of the Constitution, from Article 36 to 51. These are Directives to the state to be followed in the formation of policy. They are however, made non-justiciable in the court of law, but yet, they are important and fundamental in governance of the country. They are aims and ideals to be achieved by the state which would lead the country towards creating a welfare state.

Fundamental Rights are the basic rights provided to every individual in a civilized society. They consist of civil and political rights and assure a dignified survival of an individual. They provide for equality before the law, liberty, and freedom for various purposes. Fundamental Rights imposes a negative obligation on the State and prevent the State from encroaching liberty of an individual. Importantly, Fundamental Rights are justiciable, i.e. the State would be liable for their infringement.

The Supreme Court in the Minerva Mills Case, 1980 subordinated the DPSP to FRs except Articles 39(b) and (c). The FRs henceforth would be treated as subordinate to the Article 39(b) and (c). The article seeks to establish a socialistic society and a welfare state. The case held that the Indian Constitution is founded on the bedrock of the balance between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles.