On Republic Day, we speak of justice, liberty, and equality. But the constitutional conversation on women’s rights in corporate India rarely moves beyond the Preamble and Article 14. We have collectively forgotten—or perhaps never learned—the specific, actionable, and radical economic and political safeguards embedded in the text.

We do not speak of Article 39(a), a Directive Principle of State Policy, which mandates that the State shall direct its policy towards securing “that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.” This is not a vague ideal. It is a constitutional command for economic parity, providing a powerful lens through which to audit compensation, promotion, and assignment of “livelihood” opportunities within your organization.

We ignore Article 39(d), which commands “that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.” The Equal Remuneration Act (now subsumed under the Code on Wages, 2019) finds its root here. Yet, how many internal pay equity audits proactively cite this constitutional origin to justify their necessity? We treat pay gaps as a compliance issue, not a constitutional failure.

Most critically, we are silent on Article 243-D(3) & Article 243-T(3). These are not symbolic gestures. They mandate the reservation of not less than one-third of the total number of seats in Panchayats and Municipalities for women. The Constitution explicitly endorses political quota-based representation as a valid mechanism for women’s advancement at the grassroots level of democracy. This dismantles the argument that gender-targeted acceleration programs or leadership quotas in the private sector are somehow “unconstitutional” or “un-meritocratic.” The framers recognised that without mandated representation, historical exclusion perpetuates.

This Republic Day, let us move beyond decorative quotes. Let us engage with the Constitution as the operational document it is. When we design women’s leadership programs or debate boardroom diversity, our most compelling authority is not a global benchmark, but our own constitutional vision—one that guarantees not just abstract equality, but the specific mechanisms to achieve substantive economic and political justice.