Basic minimum needs
Also called: Basic needs · Topic: Equality and Social Justice · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Social Justice"
Meaning
Basic minimum needs are the least that a person needs to live a healthy, secure and productive life. People generally agree that they include enough food (nourishment), housing, clean drinking water, education and a minimum wage. Governments and the WHO measure them, and a democratic government has a duty to provide them. Articles 38, 39, 41, 43 and 47 of the Directive Principles express this aim. NCERT notes that meeting these needs costs a great deal in a poor country with a large population.
Example
India measures who falls short of basic needs through poverty lines, such as the Tendulkar line (2009) and the Rangarajan line (2014), and through NITI Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Laws such as the Right to Education Act 2009 and the National Food Security Act 2013 turn some of these needs into legal rights.
Don't confuse with
- Capability approach: this idea, from Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, looks at the real freedoms people have, such as being healthy or educated. Basic needs is a list of minimum goods that people must get.