The Preamble sounds the solemn resolve of the people of India, to secure to all its citizens justice-social, economic and political, liberty of thought expression, belief, faith and worship. It speaks to secure to all citizens equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation. The intention of the Makers, therefore, was to establish in India a democracy-political, economic and social.
To achieve this cherished goal, the framers were unanimous to secure the people practically all the prevailing political, social and economic rights.
The rights were, broadly speaking, divided into two categories: (i) Political Civil Rights; and (ii) Social and Economic Rights. The former rights which were, in their opinion, within the reach of the individual was provisioned as Fundamental Rights and the latter being considered beyond individual's reach under the prevailing circumstances, we titled as Directive Principles of State Policy.
Dr. BR Ambedkar, explaining the object underlying the Directive: While we have established political democracy, it is also the desire that we should lay down our ideal economic democracy. We do not want merely to lay down a mechanism to enable people to come and capture power. The Constitution also wishes to lay down an ideal before those who would be forming the Government. That ideal is economic democracy, whereby, so far as I am concerned, I understand to mean one man one vote.
Mr. Justice Hegde explained that the Directive Principles proceeded on the basis of human rights. Representative democracies will have no meaning without economic and social justice to the common man. It is thus social and economic justice which is required to be achieved by the incorporation of the Directive Principles of State Policy.