The social philosophy of the present century is that not only individual rights are important but also social justice and protection of the social institutions are important. It is considered as the duty of the modern democratic state to protect the social interests of the communities and assure justice to one and all. Legislation undertaken with the interest can be regarded as social legislation. Social legislation are not a new phenomena. Even during the British rule some of the social legislation were undertaken either to remove some social evils or to promote the social interests of some communities or to fulfill both. After Independence, several such legislation have been taken up to protect the social interests of all the sections of the society. Social Legislation are undertaken today to protect the social interest, to assure social justice, to safeguard individual rights and to further the ideology of equality. The main intentions behind the social legislation can be listed as : 1. To assure social justice to all without any discrimination and to protect the social rights of one and all. 2. To give special protection to those who are weaker, poorer and without any visible means of protection. 3. To provide protection and to assure justice to all those who are weaker, the exploited, the suppressed and to the minorities. 4. To protect the human resources and to provide for proper conditions to help use these resources for the benefit of the larger society. 5. To take legal actions against social evils, to launch programs and schemes to redress the social problems and to protect larger interests of the community.
