Skip to main content

PROPOSED DUTIES OF A CITIZEN


 Meaning of Citizen  The word 'citizen means a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection as distinguished from an alien. It also means an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises. Sometimes this word is also used in a narrow sense to mean a civilian, as distinguished from a soldier, police officer etc.

Rights and Privileges  A citizen enjoys a number of privileges and fundamental rights merely by being a member of a nation, state or society. It is therefore natural that he has certain reciprocal obligations towards the society, nation or state that guarantees him these rights and privileges. These obligations are the fundamental duties or high ideals that must be followed by every citizen.

Duties of Citizens The proposed duties of the citizens are:-

 National
  •  A citizen must cherish and follow the noble ideals that inspired national struggle for its freedom or creation.
  • He must uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the nation.
  • A citizen should defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so.
  • He should always respect and show reverence towards national symbols like national flag, national anthem and national emblem.
  • He must respect revered national figures like the Father of the Nation and always hold them in the highest esteem.
  •  A citizen should protect and never inflict any injury or harm to national animal and national bird.
  • He should never deface, damage or disrespect any national monument or war memorial.

 Constitutional
  • All citizens must abide by the constitution and respect its ideal and institutions.
  •  All citizens must respect and abide by all constitutional authorities.
  • All citizens must abide by the law of the land.

 Social
  •  All citizens have duties in building up a free, egalitarian, healthy and responsible society.
  • They are expected to act as damper to reckless and anti-social activities on the part of some individuals.
  • All citizens must respect national integrity and promote cultural harmony.
  • They must promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people transcending religious, linguistic and regional diversities.
  • All citizens must value and preserve the rich heritage of composite culture.
  • They should safeguard human-rights and denounce social injustices.

 Fellow Citizens
  • Citizens must respect fellow senior citizens and deal with them with due compassion.
  • Citizens must render all reasonable help, care and protection to aged, children and ladies.
  • Citizen must respect martyrs, freedom fighters and the armed forces personal.
  • Citizens must respect all national award winners from various walks of life.

 Individual
  • Every eligible citizen must exercise franchise, where applicable.
  • A citizen must safeguard public property and abjure violence.
  • He must strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement.
  • He must develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
  • He must renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
  • A parent or guardian should provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years.
  • Children (later grown up citizens) must take care of their parents and never desert them in their old age.
  • Students must respect their teachers all through their lives.
  • He must renounce social evils like dowry, female foeticide, bribery and defecating in the open.
  • A citizen must pay taxes as per the existing tax laws.
  • He must renounce corrupt practices.
  • He must neither offer nor accept bribe.
  • A citizen must denounce wasteful practices to lead a simple and spartan life.

 Environment
  • Citizens must pledge to keep environment free from pollutants.
  • They must protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wild-life and have compassion for living creatures.
  • They must always ensure clean and serene surroundings.
  • Every citizen must plant at least ten surviving trees in his life time.

Conclusion Even though the fundamental duties may be non-enforceable and non-justifiable in character, these must not be mere expressions of pious platitudes. This means that while no citizen can be punished by a court for violation of a fundamental duty, the courts should take cognizance of laws seeking to give effect to these fundamental duties. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Data Driven!

Introduction   During survival training the commandoes are taught techniques to avoid starving when cut off from human habitats while operating in dense forests, unending deserts and snow-clad mountains due to enemy action. The basic principle is that human beings can consume everything that is eaten by mammals. Wild or unknown red-coloured fruits and plants that exude white juice should be considered poisonous and avoided. The commandoes are trained to catch and eat even snakes. The trick is to catch the snakes alive and remove their poisonous, rotten and harmful glands before killing them and preparing a delicious meal. Similarly, the data needs to be defanged before consuming, lest it dooms the user. It needs to be sifted, vetted, analysed and evaluated.   Information is power. Google’s mission statement is to “Organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. The ever evolving technology makes it possible to compile and process infinite infor...
7 comments
Read more

ART OF IGNORING

    One day, when I was a Colonel and commanding a combat unit, I returned home very late for lunch. Although, physically back home for some food, my mind was still reeling with the stuff at work. I was unable to notice an old friend who had come on a surprise visit and was sitting in the lawn, chatting with my wife for the past two hours. He read my mind well and smiled. When my wife moved to the kitchen for laying the lunch, we got talking over the pre-lunch drinks.      My friend, also a senior colleague, explained that when we had joined the army twenty years back, as Second Lieutenants, ten men each were placed under our command. These men made one, two or three mistakes every day. The lapses were of simple nature like getting late for parade, untidy turnout, slouching or missing salutations. It was very intimate command. We noticed almost every lapse and were well trained to take corrective actions. Thus, at the end of the day, we were quite satisfied with...
7 comments
Read more

MOTIVATIONAL MOTTOES

     I was ten years old when I joined Sainik School during Jan 1967. It was a boarding school with military like environment and discipline; all very different from the carefree living with the siblings, in the cosy comfort of parental care at home. Here, one had to fend for everything. Early to rise, a cup of tea, followed by physical training, then bath and change into uniform akin to the army, thereafter march to the mess in squads for breakfast, from there march-on to the academics block for classes and march back to the mess for lunch. There was a short rest period post lunch followed by games parade.  In the evenings we again took bath, wore mess dress and observed combined study period. The day concluded with marching for dinner to the mess and back to the hostel, polishing shoes and washing small garments before going to the beds at lights out till reveille early next day morning. There were intermittent doses of instructions and moral lectures everyday to m...
3 comments
Read more