[Answered] What do you understand by the term ‘social justice’? Explain why it is imperative for a society to promote social justice.

Social justice means a fair and just relationship between individual and society. In simple terms, social justice refers to justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. It aims to meet the challenge of socio-economic inequality by rule of law.

Importance of Social Justice in a society: Social justice is important for the welfare of society as a whole. Having social justice and responsibility leads to satisfaction and pleasure of life, as well as the respect and loyalty to the leaders.

1. Equality: Social justice means that everyone is living in equity, regardless of a person’s race, gender or religion. The idea of social justice is that all people should have equal access to wealth, health, well-being, justice, privileges, and opportunity regardless of their legal, political, economic, or other circumstances.
2. Diversity: Social justice helps us work toward celebrating diversity in our communities and country. It acknowledges the differences that we are born with which can otherwise lead to resentment and hostility.
3. Economic upliftment: In economic terms, social justice efforts usually seek to elevate the economic status of various groups defined by group identity or demographic characteristics like race, gender, and religion.
4. Democratic system: A democratic system has to ensure that the social development is in tune with democratic values and norms reflecting equality of social status and opportunities for development, social security and social welfare.
5. Dignity: To ensure life to be meaningful and liveable with human dignity it is important to provide justice to all and enable their rights as enshrined in our constitution.
6. Mitigate Sufferings: It is a tool to mitigate the sufferings of the poor, weak Dalits, tribals’ and deprived sections of the society.
7. Human Resources: It will help in the conservation of human resources by provision of health and education facilities.
8. Freedom to form political, economic or religious institutions: It will help to eradicate the
   challenges of caste system, untouchability and other discrimination in the society.
9. Improving status of women: Social justice is must to address ill treatment of women. Ill practices of dowry, female foeticide would decline. It can also address the issues declining sex ratio and limited education opportunities for girls.
10. Legal Justice: It means that the system of administration of justice must provide a cheap, expeditious and effective instrument for realization of justice by all sections of the people irrespective of their social or economic position or their financial resources

Social justice is a dynamic tool to improve the conditions of the marginalised sections of the society. If implemented in letter and spirit can help ensure human dignity and equal opportunities. It focuses more on just relations between groups within society as opposed to the justice of individual conduct or justice for individuals.