An economy is the large set of inter-related production and consumption of goods and services that aid in determining how scarce resources of a Nation is allocated for benefit of the people. Economy is the art of making the most of life. The love of economy is the root of all virtue.- George Bernard Shaw Indian Constitutional scheme for the realisation of the socio-economic agenda comprises of both the justiciable Fundamental Rights as well as the non-justiciable Directive Principles. The judicial contribution to the synthesis and the integration of the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles in the judicial process of “constitutionising” social and economic rights has been crucial to the realisation of the Directive Principles not only as a means to effectuate Fundamental Rights but also as sources of law for a welfare state

Article 38 of the Indian Constitution enjoins upon the State to strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order in which justice, social, economic and political shall inform all the institutions of national life and to minimize inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities not only amongst individuals but amongst groups of people. Article 39 directs the State inter-alia to secure to the citizens the right to adequate means of livelihood; that the ownership and control of material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; that the children are given the opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. Article 39A provides that the State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. Article 41 contemplates effective provision for securing the right to work; Article 42 for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. In an economy where the State is not the dominant employer of workers, the COVID-19 pandemic opens up unforeseen challenges in securing true equality and dignity to them. Workers in the organized and unorganized sectors of the economy face basic questions about survival and security. The National Thermal Power Co-operation v. Karri Pothuraju, (2003) 7 SCC 384; Barat Fritz Werner Ltd. v. State of Karnataka, (2001) 4 SCC 498
The unprecedented nature of these challenges is matched only by the unanticipated nature of the pandemic. The challenges will need to be addressed with ingenuity and commitment. The framers of the Constitution did not envisage one model of economic democracy. Dr B R Ambedkar, as the architect of the Constitution, incorporated a vision which endows the succeeding generations of elected governments with the discretion to design responses in tune with the changing nature of social and economic structures.27 In the Constituent Assembly on 19 November 1948, he stated28:

“..While we have established political democracy, it is also the desire that we should lay down as our ideal economic democracy …The question is: Have we got any fixed idea as to how we should bring about economic democracy ? There are various ways in which people believe that economic democracy can be brought about; there are those who believe in individualism as the best form of economic democracy; there are those who believe in having a socialistic state as the best form of economic democracy; there are those who believe in the communistic idea as the most perfect form of economic democracy. Now, having regard to the fact that there are various ways by which economic democracy may be brought about, we have deliberately introduced in the language that we have used, in the directive principles, something which is not fixed or rigid.

We have left enough room for people of different ways of thinking, with regard to the reaching of the ideal of economic democracy, to strive in their own way, to persuade the electorate that it is the best way of reaching economic democracy, the fullest opportunity to act in the way in which they want to act.” However, flexibility for succeeding generations to develop their models of economic democracy would not in the vision of the Framers allow a disregard of Dr B R Ambedkar, Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume 7 on November 19, 1948.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) , in Oct 2020 , slashed the growth forecast for India for the second time this year saying that the country’s economy will contract 10.3% in FY21, the third steepest decline after Spain and Italy, and the sharpest fall among emerging markets and developing countries.The slowdown in India, according to the World Bank, is expected to depress manufacturing and exporting industries. The construction sector, which relies on migrant workers, is also likely to experience a protracted slowdown due to a limited pipeline of public sector infrastructure projects. Growth, however, is expected to return to 5.4% in the next fiscal, assuming Covid-related restrictions are relaxed.“There’s a big problem that the informal sector has no coverage in social insurance. What we see now is that especially the informal workers in the middle of the income distribution have lost their jobs. There are no systems in place to support those people,” Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, Oct , 2020.

Responding to another question, Mr. Timmer said that as a result of COVID-19, the World Bank estimates that in one year, the number of people living below the poverty line has increased by 33%. Today , India needs to continue to implement critical reforms in key areas such as health, labor, land, skills and finance to come out stronger from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These reforms should aim at enhancing productivity of the Indian economy and spur private investments and exports, says a new World Bank report. Dr Manmohan Singh who is widely known as an architect of Indian economic growth meanwhile has suggested that -First, the government should "ensure people's livelihoods are protected and they have spending power through a significant direct cash assistance".

Second, it should make adequate capital available for businesses through "government-backed credit guarantee programmes".

Third, it should fix the financial sector through "institutional autonomy and processes".