Article 41 — Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases

The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Article 41 is one of the classic welfare state provisions of the DPSP, drawing from the Beveridge Report (1942) in Britain that laid the foundation for the post-war welfare state, and from Fabian socialist ideas that heavily influenced Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress left wing. The qualifier 'within the limits of its economic capacity and development' was deliberately included to acknowledge that a newly independent and impoverished India could not immediately deliver these rights fully. The article was understood as establishing a trajectory, not an immediate obligation.

• Article 21
• Article 45
• Article 39A
• Article 42

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026