Public Welfare State

In the modern era, a new concept has been formulated, regarding the objectives
and functions of the state. This concept is a ‘Public welfare state’.
Harold J. Laski wrote in his famous book ‘Grammar of Politics’, "An important
achievement of the modern era is that the state has now been accepted as a
‘welfare state’ rather than a ‘Night Watchman’."
We must know this that, the theory of the ‘welfare state’ is NOT a new or
unique theory. Since ancient times, it was believed in ‘India’ that the purpose of
the state is to do the ‘interest of the people’ or ‘the welfare of the people’.

Kautilya wrote in 'Arthashastra' :

“Prajasukhesukhamragyaha,

prajanaam cha hitehitam,

Naaatmam priyam hitamragyaha,

Prajanam tupriyam hitam”

That is,
“Happiness of the king lies in the happiness of the people,
Interest of the king lies in the interest of the people.
The ‘king’ has ‘no interest’ of his ‘own’.
The ‘interest of the people’ is the ‘favorite interest of the king’.”

So, in the concept of welfare state, as we just said that the

Kautilya's state was a welfare state, in which the king's purpose was, only to
work for the interest and happiness of the people. Similarly, in ancient Greece it
was believed that the purpose of the state is to provide man with a ‘superior
life’. Aristotle said, " The State comes into existence, originating in the ‘bare
needs of life’ and continuing in existence for the ‘sake of good life’."

Even in the modern era, when Bentham stated that the ‘purpose of the state’ was
'maximum happiness of the maximum number of persons', in fact, indirectly he
was propounding the principle of the welfare state itself.

Similarly, when Green said that the purpose of the state was to 'disrupt
obstacles', he also had a picture of the welfare state in his mind.
But clearly the theory of the welfare state was formulated by Laski. He said,
"The objective of the state is to do good to the people.” Other liberal thinkers
also supported the same view. Most liberal thinkers came to say that the state
should actually be a welfare state.
In 1950, the Congress Working Committee in India, said in a resolution - "Our
aim is to establish a welfare state in India. "

In fact, the theory of the welfare state has been formulated as a reaction against
individualism and communism. The principle of individualistic state was ‘very
cruel and inhuman’. In communist ideology, there was a lot of emphasis on
violence and revolution. Therefore, the principle of 'welfare state' was
formulated by coordinating the qualities of boththe ideologies. It emphasized
the freedom of the individual and the other on his economic and social security.

Thus, the welfare state is the coordination of 'individualism' and 'communism'.

Definition of Welfare State

Jawaharlal Nehru, while explaining the concept of a welfare state, said that "its
main purpose is the welfare of the people. Not only in the realm of material life,
but also in the field of spirit." Explaining the objective of establishing a welfare
state in India by the Congress,Nehru said, "The welfare state will have
economic democracy, a national level of material needs and social status will be
set, the standard of living of the people will be improved, full employment will
be provided, exploitation will end, inequality of income and property will be
reduced so that everyone can have equal opportunities for the development of
their personality."

In the words of Dr. Abraham, "The welfare state is a community that, in the
operation of its economic system, serves the purpose of a more and more similar
distribution of income."

According to G. D. H. Cole, "The welfare state is a community in which the

belief and opportunity ‘to achieve the minimum standard of living’ is in the
right of every citizen."

ArthurShlesinger said, "A welfare state is the system under which the
government is prepared to establish certain levels of employment, income,
education, medical aid, social security and housing for all its citizens. "

Dr. Ashirwadam is of the opinion - "Welfare state means ‘Expanding the scope
of the state's work' so that more and more people can be welfare."
In Kant's words "The welfare state is the state that arranges comprehensive
social services for its citizens."

According to M. C. Chagla, "The function of a welfare state is to build a bridge

by which a person rises above the fallen state and enters a state that is uplifting
and purposeful." "

According to Prof. Garner, "The purpose of the welfare state is to expand

national life, national wealth & material and moral standards in life."

After studying these definitions of welfare state,it can be said that ‘it is a state
which works for the public interest’. In the welfare state, ‘all the needs’ of
‘living a good life’ are fulfilled ‘to all the people’, as well as ‘all the facilities of
their moral development’ are also given to them. A welfare state is one in which
the individual's economic, social, and political needs are met equally and his
standard of living is improved.

The welfare state, in the words of Boson, "works for all persons such as doctors,
nurses, teachers, traders, producers, insurance agents, house builders, town
planners, etc."

Characteristics of the welfare state

The characteristics of a welfare state are as follows:

(1) Public Welfare –

In a welfare state, the main objective of governance is public welfare. All the
work of governance is carried out in such a way that it is beneficial and welfare
of the people. It involves considering the ‘well-being of the entire public’ in
place of ‘a few elite individuals or groups’.

(2) Economic security –

In a welfare state, no person is poor. The state provides employment and

livelihood to every person. The state sees that the ‘basic material necessities’ of
every person's living, are met.

(3) Social Security –

Social security is also provided to every person in the welfare state.

Arrangements are made to provide protection on behalf of the state to the old,
helpless and‘persons suffering from natural outbreaks’. Public health is
arranged by thegovernment.

(4) Political security –

In a welfare state, arrangements are made for police etc. to secure the life of all
persons. It is the ‘first task of the government’ to maintain ‘law and order’. The
state makes such arrangements that people can carry out their smooth and
normal activities fearlessly.

(5) End of discrimination –

In a welfare state, individuals in the society are not discriminated against on any
basis of language, caste, sect/cult , etc. In this system, emphasis is laid on social
justice. All individuals are treated equally.

(6) Democratic governance –

A regime that is ‘autocratic and tyrannical’ cannot have a welfare state. For a
welfare state, it is necessary that the ‘governance system’ should be democratic.
Elected representatives of the people ‘should rule’and citizens should have
‘complete freedom’ of ‘thought and expression’. Otherwise, how will we know
whether the state is welfare or not?

(7) Belief in World Peace –

The welfare state believes in world peace. it knows that the ‘path of war’ is the
‘path of mutual destruction’. The welfare state therefore ‘attempt to establish
friendship’ with all neighbors. Not only this, but it wants peace in the whole
world and believes in ‘peaceful resolution of disputes’.

Functions of the Welfare State

Many scholars divide the functions of the state into two parts –

1. Essential functions of the state such as protection from foreign invasion,

maintenance of ‘law and order’ etc.

2. Elective functions of the State such as public health and education.

But the welfare state does not believe in such division of functions. He
considers all the work of public welfare as essential.
A welfare state performs the following functions:

1. Maintaining peace and order –

It is the duty of the welfare state to maintain peace and order in the society. The
state has every right to make laws to do so. At the same time, he has the right to
follow those laws. To make laws, to create peace and order in the society, to
follow them and to punish them, if necessary - this is the main task of the state.
It requires a complete structure of police and administration. It is also the job of
the state to arrange it.

2. Security system of the country –

A very important function of the welfare state is to protect the country from
external aggression. For this, itmaintains‘a well-organized force’ for the whole
country. Thisforcecontains,TheThe Army, The Navy and Air Force.It is very
important to have a capable force. In today's era, the art of war has become very
specialized, expensive and scientific. Therefore, in order for any state to fully
protect its people from external aggression, it is necessary that its army is
equipped with sophisticatedweapons and is fully aware of the new skills of
warfare.

3. Judicial system –

It is quite natural that various disputes and quarrels arise on many subjects,
among the people living in the society. A judicial system should be made by the
state to resolve those disputes. It is the function of the welfare state to provide
justice to all persons equally, without any discrimination. There should be a
judiciary that is impartial and everyone has a sense of respect for it.

4. System of economic development –

Today's era is an era of fast pace. There is a competition for economic

development in the countries of the world. The standard of living of individuals
is rising rapidly. In such a situation, no state can remain a silent spectator to the
economy of the society and the economic condition of individuals. Its main task
becomes to try for the economic development of the entire country. In socialist
countries, this task is taken over by the state itself but in capitalist countries,
efforts are being made on a large scale by the state for economic development.
Even though many industries are in the hands of private industrialists, but the
state has adequate control over them. Technological and scientific progress and
research have also become the task of the state for economic development in all
countries.

While working for economic development, on behalf of the state, it is also

important to see that no section or community of the society is neglected.
‘Absolute equality is not possible anywhere’.
It does not exist in any country.
Not even in England, not even in China;
But economic inequality can be reduced.
Every person can be given employment. Efforts can be made, that ‘no person
should remain below the poverty line’ and this is what the welfare state should
do.

5. Arrangement of Traffic and Communication –

Traffic and communication are a great necessity for the industrial development
of any State. It is not necessary that the State takes over all the work related to
traffic and communication but it is necessary that it is the job of the welfare
state to see whether the system of transport and communication remains the
same or not, to spread a network of beautiful roads throughout the country, to
lay railway tracks in all areas, to arrange air traffic, to connect and arrange
waterways.

6. The system of public health-

There are various diseases which have emerged in the modern era.We just
hadgone through the global pandemic era of covid. Formerly, Along with
industrialization, the trend of urbanization has increased, and this has resulted in
the emergence of dirty localities. These dirty localities are mines of diseases.
Many diseases originate from here and spread in the form of epidemics.In
addition to this, waves of diseasesmay also originate from developed and semi-
developed areas. For the healthy life of human beings, it is necessary to run
‘organized and massive campaigns’ against these diseases. This is the job that
the welfare state has to do. The state should make arrangements for public
health in such a way that the disease is less prevalent.

7. Spread of education –

The education system determines the ‘character and progress’ of any

community. In order to build a strong, prosperous and cultured state, it is
necessary that its people are well educated and well-trained. It is the job of the
State to see whether all citizens and all future citizens are getting the ‘right and
proper education’. Education does not require government intervention. It is not
even desired. There is a great need for an independent environment for
education. The task of the welfare state is to see whether the proper means and
tools of education are being mobilized to the society or not. If not, the State
should arrange for those means. The State also has to see that no one is
‘deprived of education’, due to poverty or lack of money. The job of the state
should not be to ‘give education’, but to ‘arrange education’.

8. Arranging entertainment –

There is a great need for entertainment to survive. Life without entertainment is

dulland dry. However, modern life is so complex, serious and stressful that if it
does not have entertainment, it automatically becomes a heavy burden.
Generally, man himself arranges entertainment with the help of his other
companions and institutions, but it is the duty of the welfare state to provide
healthy and cheap means of entertainment to individuals.
It is the task of the state to mobilize these resources on a large scale. Developing
river, lake and sea banks, creating picturesque places near mountains and
waterfalls, creating playgrounds and providing facilities for them, all these and
many other such things must be done by the state.

9. Supporting the development of Literature, Culture and Art–

Literature, culture and art are the gentle, beautiful and elegant side of any
society. It is a mirror of the state's talent. The ideals and values of the state have
resonance. Normally, the state should not interfere in this area, because the
literature and art that are under the control of the state begin to become glitter
less, but the welfare state can create conditions that can lead to the development
of high-level literature, culture and art. The state can create an environment in
which healthy literature can flourish.

10.Determining relations with other states -

The ancient Indian philosopher Kautilya in his famous text ‘Arthashastra’

describes in detail about determining the relationship of a state with other states.
Now a days, ‘no state is a river island’. It may be a complete entity in itself, but
it is a remarkable member of the Group of States. In such a situation, it is also
the duty of the welfare state to determine the relationship of one welfare state
with other states. The state sends its ambassadors to other states, welcoming
their ambassadors to their own country. Establishes trade and economic
relations with other states. This work is perfectly possible at the state level.

The list of functions of the state is very long. Even though, only the main
functions have been discussed above, it is clear that today's state is not a
prohibitive or police state, it has to play an important role for the proper
development and upliftment of man. A welfare state is helpful in the best life of
a person.

Criticism of the welfare state

The concept of a welfare state has also been severely criticized. The main tone
of criticism is as follows:

1. Vague concept-
The biggest drawback of the concept of the welfare state is that it is a vague
concept. It is very good to say that the objective of the state should be public
welfare. But no one has given a definite and universally accepted explanation of
‘what is meant by public welfare’. One scholar tells ‘some meaning of public
welfare’ and the other ‘something else’.

2. Support of Capitalism –
The concept of the welfare state was propounded by liberals to protect their
system from communist attacks. It was a shield to protect capitalism. Any state
that supports unethical capitalism, cannot be a welfare state.

3. Authoritarian rule –
Under a welfare state, the scope of governance ‘expands significantly’. It also
greatly increases the ‘powers of governance’. A regime exercising too much
power becomes ‘autocratic and authoritarian’.

4. Decline in the quality of public service –

In a welfare state, public services are greatly expanded. But due to public
service being in the public sector, its quality declines greatly. Everyone is
familiar with the agony story of government schools, government hospitals,
government buses. In a welfare state, public services remain merely a matter of
paper.

5. Increase in bureaucracy –
A welfare state means an increase in bureaucracy, an army of officers and
employees, instead of doing public interest, engages in self-interest. Vested
interests become dominant and public welfare works fall prey to 'red tape'.

6. Wastage of money –
In a welfare state, the government takes up many tasks, which involve huge
money waste. In the name of public welfare, many such schemes are made and
money is looted from the government treasury on them, which are absolutely
unnecessary.
 7. Contradictory concept –
In a welfare state, there is no special emphasis on ending economic inequality.
It is only talked about raising the standard of the poor. But, in a society where
economic inequality is very high, there cannot be equality of opportunity.
Therefore, basically the concept of welfare state is a 'status quo concept'.

Even after these criticisms, it can be said that the principle of welfare state has
inspired governance in liberal states to do many things of public interest. Public
interest becomes the ‘main moto’ of every government of the world.