[Points: Meaning of the word 'citizen'—who is a good citizen laws written and unwritten—what happens if they are broken—some common habits of a bad citizen—duties of a good citizen.]
'Citizen' primarily means one who lives in a city. But the term is generally used in a wider sense to mean one belonging to a State. Thus, every Indian is a citizen of India, whether he lives in a city or a village or on the hills.
Every society has some definite rules of co duct for its members in order that there may be peace and harmony among them. Some of these rules are laid down as written laws, and whoever breaks any of them is punished by a court of law. But there are many unwritten rules which are no less binding on every member of the society. Peace and happiness of the society depend a good deal upon the proper observance of these rules too. A good citizen takes as much care about these unwritten rules of conduct as about the written laws. Unfortunately, many in our country are careless about the former.
We often throw orange and banana skins about in the street on which somebody may slip and break his bone. We also spit and throw things from above on the streets below. This makes the streets dirty, and the things may fall on persons passing along. We waste filtered water by leaving the taps open. Village people often wash even the clothes of persons suffering from infectious diseases in ponds from which they draw their drinking water. We see people standing at the en trance of trams and buses even when there is room inside. They do not care the least about the inconvenience this causes to persons in getting down and getting in. We have also bitter experience of the use made of loudspeakers without any thought of the sufferings of people nearby.
All these common experiences show that we are lacking in civic sense. A good citizen not only avoids breaking the rules himself,. but also sees that they are not broken by others. We expect society to give us peace and happiness. But society cannot do much unless we help it to help us. So whenever we see a person doing any wrong, it is our duty to try to correct him. We should also help the authorities in maintaining law and order and peace for the general happiness of all.
