Can the constitutional mandate of rights-based welfare be effectively realised in the context of non-integrated governance and…

The constitutional mandate of rights-based welfare flows from the Directive Principles (Articles 38, 39, 41, 47) and an expanded Article 21, and is given force through Article 21A and the Right to Education Act, 2009; the National Food Security Act, 2013; and MGNREGA, 2005 (now succeeded by the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025). These create enforceable entitlements to education, food and wage employment, but their realisation depends on integrated governance and adequate public investment.

India’s public investment remains low. Public health expenditure is about 1.84 per cent of GDP (National Health Accounts 2021-22) against the National Health Policy 2017 target of 2.5 per cent, and education spending remains below the Kothari Commission’s 6 per cent of national income. Rights need sustained spending and institutional capacity, so this shortfall bites. Non-integrated governance magnifies it: centrally sponsored schemes run in silos, poorly coordinated with State machinery, producing overlapping beneficiaries, leakages and monitoring gaps. States carry most implementation without commensurate untied funds, a recurring theme in Finance Commission debates; the 16th Finance Commission kept the States' share of the divisible pool at 41 per cent.

Integration attempts exist. The Aspirational Districts (2018) and Blocks (2023) Programmes, DBT and One Nation One Ration Card pursue convergence, and NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index tracks cross-sectoral outcomes. Yet these are coordination tools, not substitutes for fiscal capacity.

Overall, rights-based welfare can be realised only partially, not effectively, under such conditions, leaving a gap between legal entitlement and actual benefit. Effective realisation needs integrated mission-mode delivery, stronger State fiscal capacity and sustained public spending aligned with constitutional entitlements.