Human Rights: Civil Rights vs Welfare Rights

Civil rights can be defined as the set of rights held by an individual

by virtue of his citizenship of the state including the rights to

legal and social and economic equality. These rights cannot be denied

to any person on the basis of race, gender, disability or color. The

covenant on civil and political rights echoed exactly what is

mentioned above. These rights guarantee the citizen political and

social freedom and equality. The covenant included the right to

freedom of thought and expression regardless of frontiers, through any

media one may wish to express his information to the others. They also

include the right to peaceful assembly and the freedom of association

with others and the right to form or join any trade unions for the

protection of one’s own interests (European Convention of Human

Rights, Article 11). Every citizen has the right to participate in the

government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen

representatives in accordance with the law. Other rights include the

right to life, right to privacy, right to leave one’s country etc.

The covenant stated that when people can enjoy their civil and

political rights, only then can the ideal of civil and political

freedom and freedom from fear and want be achieved as is in accordance

with the universal declaration of human rights. These rights guarantee

to protect citizens from the abuse of state power.

Civil and political rights were welfare rights are the additional rights that are given to citizens of

the state in addition to the ‘fundamental’ civil and political rights.

These include equality and nondiscrimination for women and minorities,

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...dly, welfare rights are very burdensome on governments

and taxpayers; that is, they require a lot of finance and resources to

be maintained. And finally, welfare rights are not feasible in the

less-developed countries or in the developing countries. For instance,

take the example of India. How can job security and employment be

provided to a nation of more than a billion people!!! And in nations,

where resources and finances are scarce, it is next to impossible to

guarantee fair pay to the employed section of the population. This

does not mean to say that the welfare rights pose unreasonable

demands. In an ideal situation, each of those rights would be highly

credited. It is just that in the context of real life, where only a

fraction of the world’s nations are fully developed, can such rights

of citizens be fulfilled.