Can the constitutional mandate of rights-based welfare be effectively realised in the context of…

Question

Can the constitutional mandate of rights-based welfare be effectively realised in the context of non-integrated governance and minimal public investment ? Examine.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Rights-based welfare can be only partially realised while silos between ministries, hollow devolution to local bodies and thin public spending stand between the statute and the citizen. Stunting stayed at 35.5% in NFHS-5 despite a grain surplus, while the funded, convergent Jal Jeevan Mission shows what integration and money achieve.

**Introduction**

Articles 38, 39, 41 and 47, read with PUCL v Union of India (2001) and laws such as MGNREGA 2005, RTE 2009 and NFSA 2013, make welfare an entitlement. Yet a right is only as real as the system that delivers it.

**How Non-integrated Governance Dilutes Welfare Rights**

SKETCH: flow | Where a Right Leaks
- Rights statute
- Union ministry
- State department
- Panchayat
- Frontline worker
- Citizen

1. **Departmental silos**: Nutrition, health and water sit in separate ministries, so stunting stayed at 35.5% in NFHS-5 (2019-21) despite a grain surplus; POSHAN Abhiyan (2018) was created only to make them converge.
2. **Hollow devolution**: Most States never transferred funds, functions and functionaries under the 73rd and 74th Amendments, leaving the tier closest to citizens powerless.
3. **Convergence works**: The Aspirational Districts Programme (2018) shows that shared indicators and one accountable Collector lift outcomes across ministries.

**How Minimal Public Investment Hollows Out Entitlements**

1. **Underfunded health**: Spending stays below the National Health Policy 2017 target of 2.5% of GDP, and out-of-pocket costs were still 39.4% in 2021-22 (National Health Accounts).
2. **Delayed wages**: In Swaraj Abhiyan v Union of India the Supreme Court held that delayed MGNREGA wages breach the guarantee and ordered compensation for the delay.
3. **Funding delivers**: Assured funding let the Jal Jeevan Mission raise rural tap connections from 3.23 crore households in 2019 to 15.72 crore (PIB, 2025).

**Conclusion**

The mandate can be only partially realised while governance is fragmented and investment thin. District-level convergence, real devolution and a funded frontline would turn the Directive Principles into a lived floor of dignity.

Can the constitutional mandate of rights-based welfare be effectively realised in the context of non-integrated governance and minimal public investment ? Examine.

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