Welfare State Objectives and the Reality of Achievement: A Critical Examination of MGNREGA under the Indian Constitution

The Indian Constitution embodies a transformative vision of governance premised on the establishment of a welfare state committed to securing social, economic, and political justice for all citizens .Unlike classical liberal constitutions that confine state responsibility to maintaining law and order, the Indian constitutional framework imposes positive obligations upon the State to actively intervene in socio-economic life in order to reduce inequality, eradicate poverty, and promote human dignity . This commitment finds its most explicit articulation in the Directive Principles of State Policy, which collectively function as the moral and ideological foundation of Indian governance . In furtherance of these constitutional ideals, the Indian State has implemented a wide array of welfare schemes aimed at employment generation, poverty alleviation, food security, health care, and social protection. However, despite this extensive welfare architecture, a persistent gap continues to exist between constitutional objectives and the lived realities of beneficiaries .Welfare schemes often suffer from administrative inefficiency, corruption, exclusion errors, and weak accountability mechanisms, raising fundamental questions about the effectiveness of India’s welfare model. This paper undertakes a critical examination of this gap through an in-depth analysis of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), which represents a paradigmatic shift in Indian welfare jurisprudence by transforming employment from a discretionary benefit into a legally enforceable right . By analysing the constitutional foundations, objectives, implementation mechanisms, governance challenges, and judicial interventions associated with MGNREGA, the study evaluates whether the scheme has succeeded in realising the constitutional promise of socio-economic justice. A comparative analysis with selected foreign welfare models is also undertaken to identify governance practices that contribute to effective welfare delivery. The paper argues that the failure of welfare schemes in India is not rooted in constitutional design but in systemic governance deficits and institutional weaknesses that undermine implementation.