Solution
Speech: Duties of an ideal citizen.
A citizen is a person who lives in a state and is governed by its laws in all matters. An ideal citizen is an asset to a nation. Countries are not good or bad but their citizens make them so. Smugglers, law breakers and people of bad character are also citizens of a country but they cannot be called ideal citizens.
An ideal citizen is every inch a patriot. Citizenship secures for the people a sense of security for their life and property. In a democratic country like India, a citizen enjoys the right of voting in elections to public bodies. He can himself stand as a candidate for election to the municipal committee of his town and legislative bodies of his country. He can even stand for the office of the president of the country.
A citizen enjoys several other advantages. It is the duty of the state to provide him with employment as far as possible.
A citizen enjoys several facilities. The state provides him with essential services such as transport, right of voting, electricity, hospitals and schools for the education of his children.
Modern states are welfare states. They are supposed to look after the welfare of the citizens. A citizen can stand up and fight for certain rights.
On the other hand, a citizen has to carry out certain duties and responsibilities. He is expected to obey the laws of his country. He must be loyal to the state. He or she must gladly offer his or her services to the state. In time of war or a national emergency, a citizen should serve the country in any capacity he is called upon to serve.
Every citizen must support the police and the administration in general in the maintenance of peace. It is also the duty of all citizens to desist from creating disorder by communal riots.
An ideal citizen tries to protect national property. He makes a right use of the facilities provided to him. He tries to maintain communal harmony in the country. He has a secular outlook. He is tolerant towards all faiths. He believes in the principle of peaceful co-existence. ‘Live and let live’ is the guiding principle of his life. He is honest and fair in his dealings. He has a helpful attitude towards his fellow human beings. He refuses to be tempted into corruption or dishonesty. His life is an open book in honesty, diligence and amiability.
It is the duty of every citizen to be ready to offer his services for public duties. It is the fundamental duty of a citizen to record his vote. A citizen is also expected to take an active part in public affairs. Another duty of a citizen is to pay taxes honestly. If he evades these, the government has the right to realize the taxes by force. An ideal citizen is ideal in his speech, conduct and writing. He is always ready to lay down his life for the sake of his country. His country is a motherland to him and he loves her from the core of his heart.
The greatness of a country depends not on her material resources, but on her men and women. A nation is great if her citizens are great. A poet has rightly said:
“Not gold, but only men,
Can make a nation strong and great;
