THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

What Is the Right to Development?

The right to development is the idea that every person and every people is entitled to take part in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights can be fully realised. It treats development not only as growth in income but as an expansion of freedom and dignity, with the human person at the centre.

International recognition

Besides Article 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the principle was given a global form in the Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1986. The Declaration describes development as an inalienable human right and says that the human person is the central subject of development. It places the primary responsibility on States to create conditions favourable to development, and it also calls for international cooperation. The Vienna Declaration of 1993 reaffirmed the right as a universal and inalienable right that forms part of fundamental human rights. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, carry the same idea into practical targets on poverty, health, education, equality and the environment.

The right to development in India

The Indian Constitution does not use the words “right to development”, but its values run through it. The Preamble promises justice, social, economic and political, and equality of status and opportunity. The Directive Principles in Part IV, including Articles 38, 39, 41 and 47, direct the State to reduce inequality, secure an adequate means of livelihood and raise the standard of living and public health. Although these principles are not enforceable in a court, the Supreme Court has read them together with the fundamental rights. Article 21, the right to life, has been interpreted to include the right to live with dignity and the right to livelihood, as in Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985). The Court has also accepted that development must be sustainable, which means that economic progress should not destroy the environment on which present and future generations depend.

Why it matters

The right to development links human rights with policy. It asks whether a road, a dam, a housing project or an economic reform is planned with the free and meaningful participation of the people it affects, whether its benefits are shared fairly, and whether the rights of vulnerable groups are protected. Students of law and public administration often study it alongside the right to a clean environment, the rights of displaced persons and the right to equality of opportunity.

This article is a general educational note and not legal advice.