Essay on “A Good Citizen” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

A Good Citizen

Essay No. 01

Citizen is one of the most commonly used word in a democracy. It is used at all levels of politics. A citizen is a person who enjoys rights and performs her/his duties in a state. Every Indian living in India is not citizen. To live in India does not make a person citizen. A citizen is one who is a member of the State and took part in the process of making government. A person who is ruled by laws but has no political rights, is not a citizen.

The term citizen was linked with the rise of democracy. Where one has political rights, the right to vote and the right to participate in decision- making on important questions, that one is citizen. In 1789 the word ‘citizen’ became popular after the French Revolution. It was said, “All citizens are equal. They have equal rights.”

A good citizen is one who is conscious of both rights and duties. For instance, the right to vote is one of our most important rights and it is our duty also to exercise the right to vote. If a person does not vote she  or he cannot be considered a good citizen, though otherwise she or he may be a good person. Good citizen  should not only be conscious of their own right alone, but also give the government what is its due. They should obey laws that are made by the legislature and pay taxes. These are their duties towards the government. But they must also perform their duties to other citizens. And the most important duty of every citizen is to respect the rights of others. Our constitution gives everyone the right to practice one’s religion. Every citizen , should practise religion in her / his own way; but in doing so one must respect the right of other citizens to practise their  religion in the way they like. The qualities of good citizens must therefore, include a consciousness of their own rights, tolerance for others and respect for laws.

A democratic state particularly depends on the quality of its citizens. If citizens do not take interest in politics, a democratic state might also gradually become undemocratic. Conversely , democracy can be strengthened if the  rights of others; it means that they know the demand what they can claim from the government. They also know what the government can claim from them. The quality of democracy improves if the citizens from all walks of life take part in its activates with interest.

A good citizen is always loyal. He is loyal to the president, because  he stands for all that is best in the laws of his country. A good citizen is also devoted to his country. He thinks that as his parents gave him natural life, so he owes his civic life to  his country. He , therefore, calls his country his motherland, and is ever ready to lay down even his life for her sake.  

A good citizen always respects the laws of his country. He obeys all the laws of the land. He goes even further, he does not keep the law himself, but is the enemy of all those who break the law. He has no sympathy for thieves  , criminals and cheats. He will assist the police. He is, therefore, always ready to public. He is therefore, always ready to put down crime and help the guardians of law in arresting criminals.

A good citizen always takes an interest in the welfare of his country. He has  a vote, and he uses it not to further his own  interests or those of the party he belongs to, but to help his country as a whole. He is always ready to help forward good causes. He is most active when illiteracy is to be removed, or when the sanitation of the town is to be improved, or when a dishonest person is to be punished. If a school is to be opened, a dispute is to be ended, a disease is to be checked, a road is to be built, or any other work of public utility is to be taken up, he is most energetic and helpful.

In this way a good citizen believes in co-operation with  other citizen for the common good. he feels that the members of community are like the different limbs of a body. The head thinks for the hand, the hand works for the belly and the belly supplies nourishment to all. Similarly, all the members of a community work for the common  good.

It is not easy to be good citizen because a good citizen has to conquer his selfishness. A good citizen cares more for his duties that is what he can do for the country.

Essay No. 02

Duties of a Good Citizen

A citizen is a person who lives in a particular country for a long time. He may be born in the country or not but, by virtue of his long stay in the country he earns the right to the citizenship of the country and starts being so called. The basic difference in the acquired citizenship after stay and that of being a citizen by birth is that, when a person acquires it, it is to be by an application for the same. When a person is born in a place, he is automatically a citizen of it, and does not have to apply for it. Now, as we all know that man, no matter where he stays in the family, in the society, in the office or in the country, he has some obligations towards them. These obligations of an individual are called duties.

Thus, in all his activities, man has some duties, and so as a citizen also man has some obligations to the country of his citizenship. In this Essay we will discuss the duties of a man as a citizen of a country. When a person belongs to a particular country whether the country of his birth or the country that he has adopted due to a long stay, it is to be remembered that, the country has nurtured him. He has grown there, avails of all facilities and advantages that accrue to the people of the country and has been granted all kinds of rights of the citizens of that country. This is because it is all necessary for the healthy growth of the individual. If he was not to be given all that, he may not have been able to grow to his full bloom. This much is fine, but, this is only one side of the coin of citizenship. When on the one hand an individual is given so much, the other side of the coin would obviously be to given to an individual clarify and express his duties. For, let us never forget that all rights have their corresponding duties. Every right that a human being enjoys in any sphere of life, there are his corresponding duties that go hand in hand with these rights. Thus, on the one hand are the rights of the citizen and the other side are his duties.

 A good citizen has to fulfil several duties in order to honestly enjoy all his rights. The first duty of a good citizen is to understand his rights and enjoy them but, with wisdom and an analytical mind. He must be loyal to the country that gives him all that it has, to enjoy and grow. He must consider the country of his living, as his own mother, for, just like the mother helps a child to grow, so does the country provide for him all that he needs to grow in every way, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then when a country gives so much, is it not its right to demand loyalty from the individual? How can the country ever expect or accept disloyalty from a man it helps live and grow. How can disloyalty to a mother be accepted? Such breach of faith and loyalty, to my mind should be considered as a grave offence. Besides, can we ever disown a mother? Thus a good citizen is one who is always found to be proud of belonging to his country – whether of birth or after living.

The second quality of a good citizen is that he should always follow all the laws of the land meticulously with the greatest of caution. He should never be found breaking or Flouting  any law.

He must love and respect all his fellow citizens who are to him like good citizen lives, must feel his presence as a good person, a reliable person and as a loving and helpful person. He himself must be a good brother/sister to the others living  in that country his brothers and sisters. The society in which the Besides being good, a duty of a good citizen also extends to his helping in the development of the country of his residence, because of the simple reason that, it is his, it belongs to him. Respect for all that belongs to that country is also one great quality expected from a good citizen.

Thus, a good citizen is one who adjusts with his environment, lives up to the expectations of his fellowmen, according to all norms and rules of the country. He does not act in any way that brings any sort of dishonor to the country. With all these essential qualities, any individual belonging to any country can be called a good citizen fulfilling these norms will be termed as a good citizen in any country.