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UPSC Prelims 2015 · Polity · Directive Principles & Duties
The ideal of ‘Welfare State’ in the Indian Constitution is enshrined in its
- (a) Preamble
- (b) Directive Principles of State Policy
- (c) Fundamental Rights
- (d) Seventh Schedule
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (b) Directive Principles of State Policy
Art. 38 (“State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people”) and the rest of Part IV lay out the welfare state.
The idea
DPSPs establish social and economic democracy: livelihood, equal pay, health, education, living wage, old-age help. Art. 37: not enforceable by courts, but “fundamental in the governance of the country”.
Why the others are wrong
(a) The Preamble has justice, liberty, equality, fraternity — the goals, not the welfare programme.
(c) Fundamental Rights mostly restrain the State; they are about liberty, not welfare delivery.
(d) The Seventh Schedule lists subjects, not ideals.
The trap
Economic justice is in the Preamble, so (a) is tempting. The question asks where the welfare-state IDEAL is laid down — Part IV.
🔒 Welfare State = DPSP (Art. 38 onwards) · Art. 37 = non-justiciable but fundamental in governance.
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