Economic Justice in the Indian Constitution: A 75th Year Retrospective

The Constitution of India was adopted in the year of 1950. It is not solely a political document. It is a social document which promises in its preamble to provide people with social, economic and political justice. However, economic justice has always been the fundamental aspiration to set the record straight for historically rooted inequities and provide equal access to the resources, opportunities and welfare. India was in a highly divided, poverty-stricken, uneducated and economically stagnant society at the time of Independence. It was during the time of Independence, which was led by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, who tried to eliminate these differences by embedding promises in the Constitution which in turn would guide the state to build a more equable society. From a constitutional perspective, over the recent 75 years, India has achieved considerable advancements in the area of 'constitution, laws and judgments' which aims to settle these principles in practice. Through the resources, which act as a moral compass, and amendments to the constitution like the 42nd and the 73rd, as well as welfare state legislation, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the economic justice has been pursued deeply, in a bit counterbalanced way. Since the year of 1991, the liberations in the economic policies has shifted the debate of economic justice from inclusive growth and welfare schemes to redistribution. Despite progress in poverty alleviation, infrastructure, and economic empowerment, issues like unemployment, rising inequality, distress in agriculture, and inequitable educational and health resources Scheffler's social justice remain. The judiciary has shaped the license to life and dignity by constitutionalizing economic rights on the case law by transcendental judicial activism. Looking back in time, the 75 years of constitutional democracy in India paints a complex picture: economic justice has been achieved to a degree in some aspects, but it is a work in progress. The Constitution bolsters the framework of the country, but the attainment of economic justice is visionary and hinges on unrelenting political commitment and responsible governance, along with collective social action to actualize the transformative vision. The founding fathers of India envisioned it to be of the nation.