FROM ARTICLE 39 TO DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE: CONSTITUTIONALISING DATA, WELFARE, AND ALGORITHMIC GOVERNANCE

The Directive Principles of State Policy, particularly Article 39 of the Constitution of India, impose on the State a duty to secure the distribution of material resources of the community so as to best serve the common good. This article argues that digital public infrastructure, including broadband networks, Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface, and welfare delivery platforms, constitutes a new category of material resource to which Article 39 applies with full force. Drawing on the theory of the commons, constitutional text, and comparative policy experience, the article proposes a DPSP-linked Digital Commons Charter as a framework of constitutional-policy norms to govern data sharing, algorithmic fairness, and public-service digitalisation. It is argued that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, though a welcome development, addresses only one dimension of the problem and that a broader constitutional framework grounded in the Directive Principles is necessary to ensure that digital infrastructure serves public interest rather than private accumulation.