PART IV
DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY
36. Definition.—In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, ―the State‖ has the same meaning
as in Part III.
37. Application of the principles contained in this Part.—The provisions contained in this Part
shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in
the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making
laws.
38. State to secure a 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 minimise the inequalities in income, and endeavour 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.
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 detriment;
(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 exploitation and
against moral and material abandonment.
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 securing justice are
not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.
40. Organisation of village panchayats.—The State shall take steps to organise village panchayats
and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units
of self-government.
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