Role of Citizens in Nation Building

Concept of Nation Building: In today’s world, it is popularly known as a

process which sets in motion the socio-political development of a country by
bonding loosely associated societies into a common community of one identity
under the concept of Nation. Therefore, the basic purpose and objective of
nation-building is to bring unity among the people of a country so that the
political viability of a country can sustain for a long period of time.
Concept of Good Citizenship: India is the largest democracy in the world, our
system has survived even when many foreign scholars declared that India’s
wide diversity is goanna be fatal for the establishing governance on democratic
principles. Biggest reason of its survival is credited to the active participation of
the citizens of this country. Thus, it extremely important that today’s youth is
not only aware of their fundamental Rights but their duties as well for
development of Nation Building.
First and foremost, thing towards Nation building is ‘good citizenship’, it
involves multiple components, including values, norms, ethical ideals,
behaviours, and expectations of participation. The idea of good citizenship is
related to diverse contemporary issues such as patterns of political participation,
the meaning of democracy and human rights, the notion of civic culture, equal
rights, and the role of technology in the digital era.

Citizens of a country who are considered as the legal members of a nation act as
one of the dominant pillars in the process of building a nation (Smith, 2015).
Duties of every citizen as enumerated in the Constitution:
Fundamental duties hold a strong significance in the Indian constitution as it is
the base of a strong foundation of humanity and morality. Originally ten in
number, the Fundamental Duties were increased to eleven by the 86th
Amendment in 2002, which added a duty on every parent or guardian to ensure
that their child or ward was provided opportunities for education between the
ages of six and fourteen years. The Constitutions of the USSR, Yugoslavia,
Poland, Albania, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, People's Republic of
China, the Italian Republic, the Netherland also have Duties as part of the
Constitution.
“We the People, We the Citizen”

Article 51 A : Under this article of our Constitution every citizen has been
obligated to perform certain duties called the Fundamental Duties. These duties
are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens to help promote a spirit of
patriotism and to uphold the unity of India.

The following are the Eleven Fundamental Duties of every citizen of India:

(a) To abide by the Constitution and respect the National Flag and the National
Anthem;

The first and the foremost duty assigned to every citizen of India is to abide by
the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the
National Anthem. These are the very physical foundations of our citizenship.
All of us are supposed to maintain the dignity of the Constitution by not
indulging in any activities in violation of the letter or spirit of the Constitution.
Ours is a vast country with many languages, sub-cultures and religious and
ethnic diversities, but the essential unit of the country is epitomized in the one
Constitution, one flag, one people and one citizenship. We are all governed and
guided by this Constitution irrespective of caste, religion, race, sex, etc. We
must put the nation above our narrow personal interests and then only we will
be able to protect our hard-earned freedom and sovereignty.

(b) To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle
for freedom;

The battle of freedom was a long one where thousands of people sacrificed their
lives for our freedom. It becomes our duty to remember the sacrifices made by
our forefathers for the cause of the country. But, what is much more important
is to remember, imbibe and follow the ideals which pervaded our unique
struggle. It was not a struggle merely for political freedom of India.

(c) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;

It imposes a Fundamental Duty on every citizen of India that he shall not do

anything derogatory of upholding or protecting the sovereignty, unity or
integrity of India. It is a duty prohibitory in nature addressed to traitors and
spies.

(d) To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do
so;

In modern nation-States, it is considered axiomatic that every citizen is bound to

be ready to defend the country against war or external aggression. The present
day wars are not fought on the battlefield only nor are they won only by the
armed forces; the citizens at large play a most vital role in a variety of ways.
Sometimes, civilians may be required also to take up arms in defence of the
country.
(e) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all
people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional
diversities and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;

India is a country of different castes, languages, religions and many cultural

streams but we are one people with one Constitution, one flag and one
citizenship. Spirit of brotherhood should come very normally among the
citizens of a country like India where the norm has been to consider the entire
world as one family. The Constitution also casts upon us the Fundamental Duty
of ensuring that all practices derogatory to the dignity of women are renounced.
This again should come normally to a country where it is an aphorism that Gods
reside where women are worshipped. It is for us to rise above the later day
degenerations and aberrations which tarnished the image of our society.

(f) To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

Our cultural heritage is one of the noblest and the richest. Also, it is part of the
heritage of the earth. What we have inherited from the past, we must preserve
and pass on to the future generations. In fact, each generation leaves its
footprints on the sands of time. We must hold precious and dear what our fore-
fathers have created and their successive generations bequeathed to us as
symbols of their artistic excellence and achievements. Generations to come
always draw inspiration from past history which stimulates them to aim at ever
greater heights of achievement and excellence. It becomes the ardent duty of
every citizen to ensure that these monuments and pieces of art are not in any
way damaged, disfigured, scratched or subjected to vandalism or greed of
unscrupulous traders and smugglers.

(g) To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures;
By protecting our forest cover, planting new trees, cleaning rivers,
conserving water resources, reforesting wastelands, hills and mountains and
controlling pollution in cities, villages and industrial units, we can help save the
future of our fellow citizens and of planet earth itself. What is needed is a
concerted effort at, an awareness campaign and a planned strategy to move
forward through voluntary citizen initiatives. Governmental steps alone cannot
help bring about a pollution-free atmosphere to live now and in the future.

(h) To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and
reform;

The Constitution ordains that science and technology must be tempered with a
sense of humanism because ultimately the end of all progress is the human
being and the quality of life and relationships that is developed.

(i) To safeguard public property and to abjure violence;

It is most unfortunate that in a country which preaches non-violence to the rest

of the world, we see from time to time spectacles of senseless violence and
destruction of public property indulged in by a few of its citizens. This is why it
became necessary to prescribe the responsibility "to safeguard public property
and abjure violence" as a fundamental citizenship duty.

(j) To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective

activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of Endeavour and
achievement."

The drive for excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity is the
demand of times and a basic requirement in a highly competitive world.
Nothing but the best would have survival potential in tomorrow's world. This
would include respect for professional obligations and excellence. Whatever
work we take up either as individual citizens or as groups, our effort should be
directed to achieving the goal of excellence. Also, special emphasis is called for
in the area of collective activity.
(k) To provide opportunities for education by the parent the guardian, to his
child, or a ward between the age of 6-14 years as the case may be.

JUDICIAL DYNAMICS: -

1. M.C. MEHTA (2) V. UNION OF INDIA (1983) 1 SCC 471:-

The Supreme Court has held that under art.51-A(g) it is the duty of the
central government to introduce compulsory teaching of lessons at least for one
hour in a week on protection and improvement of natural environment in all the
educational institution of the country. It directed central government to get
textbook written on that subject and distribute them to the educational institute
free of cost. In order to arouse amongst the people, the consciousness of
cleanliness of environment, it suggested the desirability of organizing – keep the
city clean week, keep the town clean, keep the village clean week in every city,
town and village throughout India at least once in a year.

2. AIIMS STUDENT UNION V. AIIMS AIR 2001 SC 3262: -

In this case importance of fundamental duties enshrined in art 51A has been
shown while striking down the institutional reservation of 33% in AIIMS
coupled with 50% reservation discipline wise as violative of Art.14 of the
Constitution, the Supreme Court said that they are equally important like
fundamental rights. Tough fundamental duties are not made enforceable like
fundamental rights but it cannot overlook as “duties” in Part IV is prefixed by to
same word “fundamental” which was prefixed by the founding fathers of the
constitution to “right” in Part III. Every citizen of India is fundamentally
obliged to develop the scientific temper and humanism. Though art. 51A does
not cast any fundamental duty on the state. The fact remains that the duty every
citizen is the collective duty of the state. Any reservation apart from being
substantive on the constitutional anvil must also be reasonable to be
permissible. In assessing the reasonability one of the factors to be taken into
consideration would be whether the character and quantum of reservation would
stall or accelerate in achieving ultimate goal of excellence enabling nation
constantly rising to higher level.

It was also held that fundamental duties though not enforceable by a writ of the
court, yet provide a valuable guide and aid to interpretation of constitutional and
legal issues. In case of doubt or choice of people’s wish as manifested through
Art.51A can serve as a guide not only for resolving the issues but also for
constructing or moulding the relief to be given by courts.

3. ARUNA ROY V. UNION OF INDIA AIR 2002 SC 3176: -

In this case the validity of National Curriculum Framework for School

Education was challenged on the ground that it was violative of art.28 of the
constitution and anti-secular. It provides imparting of value development
education relating to basics of all religions. The court held that the NCFSE does
not mention of imparting “religious instruction” as prohibited under art.28. what
sought to be imparted is incorporated in art.51A(e) which provides “to promote
harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to
renounces practices derogatory to the “dignity of woman”. And to see that
universal values such as truth related conduct, peace, love and non-violence be
the foundation of education. Accordingly, the court held that such education is
neither violative of art. 28 of the constitution nor is against the concept of
secularism.

4. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA V. GEORGE PHILIP AIR 2007 SC 705: -

In this case the respondent has challenged his compulsory retirement from
service. He was granted leave by the department to pursue advanced research
training. He was granted leave by the department to pursue advance research
training. He was granted leave for two years. He over stayed in a foreign
country inspite of repeated reminders come and join his duty after the expiry of
his leave. An inquiry was instituted against him and the charge of overstaying in
a foreign country was proved. He was compulsorily retired from service. The
tribunal and the high court granted him remedy of joining his service without
back wages. The Supreme court set aside the order of the high court. The
Supreme court held that art.51A(j) imposed a duty on citizen to strive towards
excellence in all sphere and it cannot be achieved unless employees maintain
discipline and devotion to duty. The courts should not pass orders which instead
of achieving underlying spirit and object of part IV A of the Constitution has
tendency to negate or destroy the same. Overstay of leave and absence from
duty by government employee and granting him six months’ time to join duty
amount to not only giving him premium to indiscipline but wholly subversive of
work cultures in organization.

5. Dr. Dasarathi Vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (AIR: 1985 AP 136):-

It was held that under article 51A (j) of the Constitution, we all owe a duty to
ourselves to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective
activity so that this nation may constantly rise to higher levels of Endeavour and
achievement. When the State undertakes to promote excellence, it can do so
only through the methods which our Constitution permits to adopt. Rewarding
of sycophancy only helps to retard the growth of efficiency and excellence.

Hon'ble Prime Minister launched MyGov-to empower the citizens of India to

contribute towards Surajya. The Prime Minister believes that "the success of
democracy is impossible without participation of the people".
The platform - MyGov- encourages citizens as well as people abroad to
'Discuss' and 'Do'. There are multiple theme-based discussions
on MyGov where a wide range of people can share their thoughts and ideas.
Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these
discussion forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction among
participants. MyGov aims to establish a link between Government and Citizens
towards meeting the goal of good governance in the country. For those who
wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, MyGov
offers several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and
submit their entries. These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and
experts. Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who complete the
task and by other members on MyGov platform. Every approved task would
earn credit points for completing the task.
Groups and creative corners are an important part of MyGov. The platform has
been divided into various groups namely Clean Ganga- window, Green
India, Job Creation, Girl Child Education , Skill Development , Digital
India, Swachh Bharat (Clean India). Each group consists of online and
onground tasks that can be taken up by the contributors. The objective of each
group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's
participation.