Answer:

Though the word socialism is vague, Supreme Court of India has observed that its principal aim is to eliminate inequality of income and to provide a decent standard of life to the people.

Directive Principles embody the object of the state to be a ‘welfare state’. Most of the Directives aim at the establishment of social and economic democracy which is pledged for in the Preamble.

Art. 38(1) provides that the State shall promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as it may a social order in which justice – social, economic, and political shall inform all the institutions of national life. Art.38(2) provides that the State shall strive to minimize the inequalities in income and try to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities among individuals and groups engaged in different vocations within the country.

Art. 39A has been inserted to enjoin the state to provide free legal aid to the poor and to take suitable steps to ensure equal justice to all. Other articles direct the state to ensure the participation of workers in the management of industry. There are other provisions like right to adequate means of livelihood, right against economic exploitation and right to human conditions of work which clearly establish the socialistic orientation of the Directive principles of State Policy.

Though these directives are not enforceable by courts, yet these principles have been declared to be fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws.