The Trap of Unenforceable Rights
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of the Supreme Court's recognition of the right to walk as a fundamental right in India and the challenges in enforcing such rights.
The Supreme Court's recent recognition of the right to walk as a fundamental right has been celebrated as a landmark victory for pedestrians in India. In this episode of All Things Policy, Sowmya Prabhakar and Shreya Ramakrishnan examine the current state of India's footpaths, the competing interests and governance challenges that shape them, and the gap between constitutional ideals and administrative reality. They argue that creating new fundamental rights without building the institutional capacity to enforce them can unintentionally expand the discretionary power of local-level bureaucrats, leading to harassment of vendors, rent-seeking, and inter-agency gridlock rather than safer, more walkable cities. The conversation explores why the real solution lies not in judicial declarations alone, but in strengthening municipal institutions, realigning incentives, and designing infrastructure that makes good outcomes easier to achieve. All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution…
People in this episode
Host: Sowmya Prabhakar
Guest: Shreya Ramakrishnan
Topics covered
- fundamental rights
- pedestrian rights
- urban governance
- municipal institutions
- infrastructure design
Keywords
- fundamental rights
- Supreme Court
- pedestrians
- urban policy
- India
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Supreme Court, Takshashila Institution
Places: India
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