Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer (EO/AO) 2017 recruitment test. Transcribed from the Commission's own booklet (series A, GRS-A-TNS); answer as per the official UPSC final answer key. This question is in Part B. Answer last reviewed 24 August 2026.

The provision of workers’ participation in management of industries is provided under

(a)Article 39A of the Constitution of India
(b)Article 43A of the Constitution of India
(c)Article 42 of the Constitution of India
(d)Article 43B of the Constitution of India

Answer

Why

Correct — B, (b) Article 43A of the Constitution of India. The Article reads: ‘Participation of workers in management of industries.—The State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other organisations engaged in any industry.’ It was inserted by section 9 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, and it sits in Part IV among the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Two features of the wording repay attention. The first is the phrase ‘by suitable legislation or in any other way’. The Article does not require a statute; it authorises the State to secure participation by any means, and that is exactly what India has done. Some of the machinery is statutory — the Works Committee under section 3 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Safety Committee under section 41G of the Factories Act, 1948, whose marginal heading is itself ‘Workers’ participation in safety management’, and the canteen managing committee contemplated by section 46(2)(d) of that Act. The rest is administrative: the Joint Management Councils introduced in 1958, and the two-tier scheme of Shop Councils and Joint Councils framed on 30 October 1975 for undertakings employing five hundred or more workers. A Bill of 1990 to put a comprehensive three-tier scheme on a statutory footing did not become law.

The second feature is where the Article sits. Being a Directive Principle it is not enforceable by any court — Article 37 says so in terms — but it declares the principle fundamental in the governance of the country and makes it the duty of the State to apply it in making laws. So no workman can sue for a seat on a management board under Article 43A; but the Article furnishes the constitutional justification for the statutes and schemes that do create such seats, and courts use it in construing them.

On placement, Article 43A belongs with the socialistic group of Directive Principles — Articles 38, 39, 39A, 41, 42, 43 and 47 — which is the reason the wrong options in this item are all drawn from the same neighbourhood. It follows Article 43, which directs the State to secure a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure, and to promote cottage industries in rural areas.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Article 39A of the Constitution of India — Article 39A is the closest trap on the list, because it was inserted by the very same amendment — section 8 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 — and its number is adjacent. Its subject is entirely different: it is headed ‘Equal justice and free legal aid’ and requires the State to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and in particular to provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes so that no citizen is denied the opportunity to secure justice by reason of economic or other disability. It is the constitutional basis of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and of the Lok Adalat system.
(c)Article 42 of the Constitution of India — Article 42 is part of the original Constitution and reads: ‘The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.’ It belongs to the same labour group of Directive Principles and is the constitutional backing for the Factories Act, the Maternity Benefit Act and the law on working conditions generally — which is what makes it plausible here. But conditions of work and participation in management are different subjects: the one is about how work is done and the other about who decides. A candidate who remembers only that ‘some Article deals with labour’ will find three of these four options equally attractive.
(d)Article 43B of the Constitution of India — Article 43B reads: ‘The State shall endeavour to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of co-operative societies.’ It was inserted much later, by the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011, which also added the words ‘or co-operative societies’ to Article 19(1)(c) and inserted Part IX-B on co-operative societies. Part IX-B was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2021 for want of ratification by the States, but Article 43B itself stands. Its subject is the co-operative, an enterprise owned by its members — not the participation of employees in an enterprise owned by somebody else.

Concept

Part IV of the Constitution, Articles 36 to 51, contains the Directive Principles of State Policy, borrowed in conception from the Constitution of Ireland. Article 37 fixes their status: they are not enforceable by any court, but they are fundamental in the governance of the country and it is the duty of the State to apply them in making laws. They are conventionally grouped as socialistic, Gandhian and liberal-intellectual. The socialistic group is the one that matters for labour: Article 38 on a social order for the welfare of the people and the reduction of inequalities; Article 39 on the principles of policy, including adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work, and protection of the health and strength of workers and of children; Article 39A on equal justice and free legal aid; Article 41 on the right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases; Article 42 on just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief; Article 43 on a living wage and conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life; Article 43A on participation of workers in management; and Article 47 on the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living and the improvement of public health. The Forty-second Amendment of 1976 added several of these, including Articles 39A, 43A and 48A, and inserted Part IVA with the Fundamental Duties in Article 51A.

The Constitution supplies EPFO papers with a small, precisely defined set of labour provisions, and they are asked as citation questions rather than as questions of interpretation. Besides the Directive Principles, the ones worth holding are Article 23, which prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour, Article 24, which forbids the employment of children below fourteen in factories, mines or hazardous employment, Article 16 on equality of opportunity in public employment, Article 19(1)(c) on the freedom to form associations or unions, and entries 22 to 24 of the Concurrent List, which is why both Parliament and the State legislatures make labour law. This paper asks the participation theme twice — once by naming three joint committees and asking what they are examples of, and once, here, by asking for the Article behind them — so the two items are best prepared together.

Key facts

Article 43A: the State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other organisations engaged in any industry.
It was inserted by section 9 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 and is a Directive Principle in Part IV.
The Forty-second Amendment also inserted Article 39A on equal justice and free legal aid, Article 48A on the environment and forests, and Part IVA with the Fundamental Duties.
Article 37 makes Directive Principles non-justiciable but fundamental in the governance of the country and a duty of the State in making laws.
Article 42 — just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief — is part of the original Constitution.
Article 43B on the promotion of co-operative societies was inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011; Part IX-B, inserted by the same amendment, was struck down in 2021 for want of ratification by the States.
Participation in India is secured partly by statute — the Works Committee, the Safety Committee, the canteen managing committee — and partly by schemes such as the Joint Management Councils of 1958 and the Shop Councils and Joint Councils of 1975.
The Bill of 1990 for a comprehensive statutory scheme of workers' participation did not become law.

The neighbouring Directive Principles, which is where the distractors come from

Article 43A — the answer→‘The State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other organisations engaged in any industry.’ Inserted by section 9 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, in Part IV.

‘Or in any other way’→The Article does not require a statute, and that is exactly what India has done. Statutory: the Works Committee under section 3 of the Industrial Disputes Act, the Safety Committee under section 41G of the Factories Act, the canteen managing committee under section 46(2)(d). Administrative: the Joint Management Councils of 1958 and the Shop Councils and Joint Councils framed on 30 October 1975.

(a) Article 39A→The closest trap, inserted by the very same amendment and adjacent in number. Its subject is equal justice and free legal aid — the State to secure that the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and to provide free legal aid so that no citizen is denied justice by reason of economic or other disability. The basis of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

(c) Article 42→Part of the original Constitution: the State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. The backing for the Factories Act, the Maternity Benefit Act and the law on working conditions generally. Conditions of work and participation in management are different subjects — one is about how work is done, the other about who decides.

(d) Article 43B→The State shall endeavour to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of co-operative societies. Inserted much later, by the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011. Its subject is the co-operative, an enterprise owned by its members, not the participation of employees in an enterprise owned by somebody else.

Why none of it is enforceable→Article 37 makes the Directive Principles non-justiciable, while declaring them fundamental in the governance of the country and a duty of the State in making laws. No workman can sue for a seat on a management board under Article 43A; the Article furnishes the constitutional justification for the statutes and schemes that do create such seats.

Study next

The Directive Principles in Part IV, their classification, and the leading cases on their relationship with Fundamental RightsThe Forty-second Amendment Act, 1976 in outline — what it inserted and what the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Amendments undidConstitutional provisions bearing on labour: Articles 16, 19(1)(c), 23, 24, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43 and 43AEntries 22 to 24 of the Concurrent List and the division of legislative power over labourThe statutory and non-statutory machinery of workers' participation in India and why the schemes have had limited success

Common traps

Confusing Article 39A with Article 43A. Both came from the Forty-second Amendment and their numbers are adjacent, but one is about legal aid and the other about participation.
Choosing Article 42 because it is about labour. Conditions of work and participation in management are different subjects.
Assuming Article 43A creates an enforceable right. Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court under Article 37.
Reading the Article as requiring legislation. It permits the State to act by suitable legislation or in any other way.
Mixing up Article 43A with Article 43B, which is about co-operative societies and came from an amendment of 2011.

Constitutional citation items in EPFO papers take three shapes: which Article provides for a stated matter, which amendment inserted a named Article, and what a numbered Article contains. All three are covered by a single list of the labour-related Articles with their subject and their amendment history. Papers frequently set two or three Articles from the same group as the options, as this one does, so learning a group together — the socialistic Directive Principles here — is more efficient than learning Articles one at a time.

Related PYQs

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q71Open & attempt →

Works Committee, Safety Committee and Canteen Management Committee are the examples of

(a) workers’ participation in management
(b) workers’ education schemes
(c) workers’ cooperatives
(d) workers’ suggestion schemes

Answer(a) workers’ participation in management

The earlier item in this block naming the Works Committee, the Safety Committee and the Canteen Management Committee — the statutory machinery through which this Article is given effect.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Article 43A of the Constitution of India was inserted by
- (a)the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976
- (b)the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978
- (c)the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992
- (d)the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011
Answer(a) the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976
practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following Directive Principles requires the State to promote the voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of co-operative societies?
- (a)Article 39A
- (b)Article 43
- (c)Article 43A
- (d)Article 43B
Answer(d) Article 43B

Why