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- Land Reforms: Almost all the states have passed land reform laws to bring changes in the agrarian society and to improve the conditions of the rural masses. These measures include:
- Abolition of intermediaries like zamindars, jagirdars, inamdars, etc
- Tenancy reforms like security of tenure, fair rents, etc
- Imposition of ceilings on land holdings
- Distribution of surplus land among the landless labourers
- Cooperative farming
- Labour Reforms: The following acts were enacted to protect the interests of the Labour section of the society.
- The Minimum Wages Act (1948), Code on Wages, 2020
- The Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act (1970)
- The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986)
- Renamed as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 in 2016.
- The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976)
- The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
- The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Equal Remuneration Act (1976) have been made to protect the interests of women workers.
- Panchayati Raj System: Through 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, government fulfilled constitutional obligation stated in Article 40.
- Three tier ‘Panchayati Raj System’ was introduced at the Village, Block and District level in almost all parts of the country.
- Cottage Industries: To promote cottage industries as per Article 43, the government has established several Boards such as Village Industries Board, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, All India Handicraft Board, Silk Board, Coir Board, etc., which provide essential help to cottage industries in finance and marketing.
- Education: Government has implemented provisions related to free and compulsory education as provided in Article 45.
- Introduced by the 86th Constitutional Amendment and subsequently passed the Rights to Education Act 2009, Elementary Education has been accepted as Fundamental Right of each child between the 6 to 14 years of age.
- Rural Area Development: Programmes such as the Community Development Programme (1952), Integrated Rural Development Programme (1978-79) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA-2006) were launched to raise the standard of living particularly in rural areas, as stated in the Article 47 of the Constitution.
- Health: Central Government sponsored schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Swasthya Yojana (PMGSY) and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) are being implemented to fulfill the social sector responsibility of the Indian State.
- Environment: The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 have been enacted to safeguard the wildlife and the forests respectively.
- The Water and Air Pollution Control Acts have provided for the establishment of the Central Pollution Control Board.
- Heritage Preservation: The Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958) has been enacted to protect the monuments, places and objects of national importance.
