The Directive Principle that directs the State, within the limits of its economic capacity, to secure the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement is:

Article 41 says that 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.

Meaning of "within the limits of its economic capacity":

• The makers of the Constitution knew that India was a poor country in 1950, and that the government could not immediately provide jobs, education and social security to all.
• So these rights were placed among the Directive Principles, to be achieved gradually as the economy grew.

Steps taken to implement Article 41:

The right to work: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, gives a legal guarantee of at least 100 days of wage employment in a year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

The right to education: Education for children aged 6 to 14 has been made a Fundamental Right, and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed in 2009.

Public assistance in old age: The National Social Assistance Programme (1995) provides pensions to the elderly, widows and disabled persons from poor families, such as the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme.

Sickness and disablement: Schemes such as health insurance and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The courts and Article 41:

• The Supreme Court has used Article 41 along with the right to life to expand the rights of the poor and the disabled.
• In the Unni Krishnan case (1993), the Court held that the right to education up to the age of 14 is part of the right to life.

Classification:

Article 41 is classed among the socialist principles, which aim at a welfare state.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Article 39 deals with certain principles of policy, such as equal pay for equal work; Article 45 with early childhood care and education; Article 46 with the interests of the weaker sections.