Obligations of citizenship
Also called: Civic obligations · Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Citizenship"
Meaning
Obligations of citizenship are the duties citizens owe to their community, and they go further than legal duties. Citizens have a moral duty to take part in community life and to contribute to it. They act as trustees, or caretakers, of the country's culture and natural resources. They settle disputes by negotiation, not by force. In the Constitution, the matching provision is Art. 51A, which lists the fundamental duties.
Example
Volunteering to clean up a local lake, or settling a quarrel with neighbours through talks rather than violence, are both ways of meeting the obligations of citizenship.
Don't confuse with
- Fundamental duties (Art. 51A): this is a specific list written into the Constitution. Obligations of citizenship is a wider idea that also covers moral duties no law spells out.