Right to Health – A Constitutional Mandate in India

The Constitution of India has provisions regarding the right to health. The obligation of the State to ensure the creation and the sustaining of conditions congenial to good health is cast by the Constitutional directives contained in Articles 38, 39 (e) (f), 42, 47 and 48 A in Part IV of the Constitution of India.¹ The state has to direct its policy towards securing that health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not compelled by monetary requirements to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength [Article 39 (e)] and that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and maternal abandonment [Article 39 (f)].