World Day of Social Justice: Time to Reflect

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20 February is celebrated as the Day of Social Justice all over the world. It is a day to raise voice against social injustice, to mitigate poverty, and eradicate all types of discrimination. The decision to celebrate the World Day of social justice was taken by the General Assembly of the United Nations in the year 2007 and the formal celebrations started from 2009.  The member nations pledged to promote economic growth with equity and social justice. Social justice denotes the equal treatment of all citizens and providing equal opportunities without any social distinction.

The concept of social justice is central and integral part of the Constitution. It is found in the Preamble, the Directive Principles of State Policy and the Fundamental Rights. The Constitution assures to all citizens justice: social, economic, and political. The 42nd Amendment Act, by introducing the word “Socialist” in the preamble, has reinforced our commitment to provide social and economic justice.

Several Articles of our Constitution have extended the frontiers of social justice. The Article 14 guarantees to every person equality before law or equal protection of the laws. The Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, and place of birth or any of them. The Article 16 provides equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state. The Article 46 obligates the State to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the country.

Several scholars of international repute praised this aspect of our Constitution. The well-known scholar Dr. Granville Austin described the Indian Constitution as a great social document having huge transformative power. The present Chief Justice and his predecessors also have been continuously reminding the people in power about the importance of social justice to protect the very fabric of our democracy.

Justice Chandrachud stressed that judicial institution could sustain in the long run only if they have the sense of compassion, empathy, and the ability to answer the cries of citizens.  Justice Ramana had said that the modern India was built around the goal of removing the disparities in society and stress that project democracy is about providing a space for the participation of all.

Each year the United Nations recommends a theme for the commemorating the day of social justice around which several activities are undertaken by both government and non-government organisations. This year’s theme focuses on strengthening global solidarity and to re-build trust in government by “Overcoming Barriers and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice”. 

The current year’s theme gains more importance in the wake of our recent pandemic experience and the on-going Ukraine war.   Covid has widened the fissures of inequality in the society. We can see the social and economic inequality more clearly now. The unemployment and poverty increased in the post Covid world. It has also brought to the fore another form of poverty based on the access to the digital world. A large chunk of our society is still deprived of the basic digital facilities. Such deprivation has created a new dimension of injustice: digital poverty.

Even though we are celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav we are struggling to cope with serious social, economic and financial exclusions. According to the latest inequality report of the OXFAM, 5 per cent of Indians own more than 60 per cent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent of the population possess only 3 per cent of the wealth. The report also mentions that the poor are paying disproportionately higher taxes, spending more on essentials items and services when compared to the rich.

Rising cost of health care and education is further hitting the poor very hard. The report further says that millions of people are pushed into poverty because of healthcare costs every year. Economic inequality is a manifestation of social injustice.  Will it be possible to ensure social justice with such economic disparity?  One cannot expect to achieve the goal of building trust in government when the government is failing in ensuring promised social justice.  

With rising economic disparity, increasing medical and education cost, increasing unemployment, and increasing restrictions on all facets of freedom it seems we are drifting away from the grand goals of the fathers of our Constitution of ensuring social justice to one and all.

On this World Day of Social justice let us revisit the relevant Articles, reexamine our policies, reflect on the impact of our actions, and rededicate ourselves to the cause of mitigating prevailing social injustice. We need to work hard to remove injustice in every walk of life since injustice anywhere, as said by Martin Luther King, Jr.  is a threat to justice everywhere.

Let us make injustice so obscure that the celebrations of the World Day of   Social Justice will be remembered as a practice of the past.

D V Ramana