Civic Awareness, Duties and Responsibilities of the People
Citizen
The term "citizen" refers to a member of a politically organized society. In common understanding, being a citizen in a democratic society implies the right and capacity to participate in political activities. Legally, citizenship denotes the relationship between the state and the individual. Every member of a community legally bound in a specific state, who exercises the rights and privileges granted by the state and fulfills prescribed duties, is called a citizen.
According to Nepal's Constitution, Part 2, Article 11(1): Persons who have acquired Nepali citizenship and those eligible to acquire it are citizens of Nepal.
Awareness
Awareness is the internal capacity to gain knowledge or understanding of any subject, or the development of that capacity. It has four aspects or functions: Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuiting. Awareness, or conscience, helps instill moral knowledge or beliefs in us, guiding us to distinguish right from wrong and act accordingly.
Rights and Duties are legal matters, while Responsibilities are social or ethical. They can also overlap.
Person and Citizen
Individuals in the state may not enjoy all rights or receive social and economic privileges. For example, a person might not get free health services but must pay health taxes mandatorily (Article 35). In contrast, citizens can enjoy all rights and privileges, such as receiving free health services without mandatory taxes (Article 42).
In Part 3 of Nepal's Constitution on Fundamental Rights and Duties, some rights are for persons, while others are exclusively for citizens.
Civic Awareness
Civic awareness is the ability and skill to bring positive behavioral changes by realistically depicting the state's social and economic conditions. It serves as a means to engage citizens in the rule of law.
How Civic Awareness Develops
Public awareness is the level of public understanding on a subject. It can be gained through events, campaigns, writings, documentaries, newspapers, websites, educational institutions, and workplace resources.
Increasing civic awareness means providing knowledge so people can make their own decisions, not just instructing them. It is not solely from formal education; being educated does not equate to being aware. Formal education does not guarantee higher awareness.
Civic awareness is a social science, gained through experiences, hearing, participation, books, media, travel, and interactions. It grows through social development participation, discussions, and political, social, business, and administrative campaigns.
Civic education is a method to spread awareness and teach responsibility, committing citizens to democratic principles. Awareness can increase in various aspects like social, political, religious, or economic.
Achievements of Civic Awareness
- Develops the ability to acquire human values.
- Enables citizens to preserve their language, culture, customs, and traditions, forming a basis for nation-building.
- Provides opportunities for citizens to engage in construction and deconstruction processes.
- Helps bring societal stability through social tolerance.
- Plays a role in economic and social empowerment of targeted groups and areas.
- Provides social knowledge and economic skills necessary for livelihood.
- Instills awareness of rights and responsibilities.
- Fosters critical thinking and reflections.
- Promotes global citizenship.
Importance of Civic Awareness
Maintaining Good Governance: Participation in Political Activities
- To create a democratic environment.
- To maintain good governance.
- To ensure human rights.
- To prepare self-reliant citizens.
Institutionalizing Change: Social Knowledge
- To act as a transformative force.
- To assist in societal reconstruction.
- To participate in political activities.
- To establish mutual relations among citizens.
Access to Public Services: Economic Prosperity
- To develop citizens as state power.
- To ensure equity in service access.
- To facilitate the flow of public knowledge, ideas, and information.
- To establish the rule of law and citizens as judicial power.
Citizen Rights
- Basic needs: Rights to education, health, and security (food, housing, social security, and peace).
- Legal use of voice and choice (rights to freedom and equality).
- Exercise of voting rights.
- Every Nepali community has the right to promote and preserve their language, script, culture, cultural civilization, and heritage.
- Right to seek and obtain public information.
- Right to live in a clean and healthy environment.
- Right to social justice.
Citizen Responsibilities and Obligations
Social and Cultural
- Respect the law.
- Maintain a sense of commonality toward public property.
- Respect others' rights and opinions.
- Be active in social upliftment.
- Preserve and promote historical, archaeological, and cultural heritage.
- Participate in social, cultural, and service-oriented activities.
- Be active in developing art, literature, and music.
- Raise voices against discrimination, inequality, exploitation, and injustice in the name of religion, customs, traditions, and culture.
- Respect all ethnic groups' languages, scripts, cultures, literature, arts, films, and heritage, fostering cultural diversity, equality, and coexistence.
- Avoid discrimination or untouchability based on origin, faith, or condition.
- Treat persons with disabilities with dignity and self-respect.
- Respect martyrs, national figures, and other national identities.
- Support children's education, health, upbringing, care, sports, entertainment, and overall development.
- Avoid actions contrary to public health, decorum, and morality.
Economic
- Take bills and pay taxes on time.
- Acquire, use, sell, benefit professionally from, and transact property under the law.
- Maintain trade cleanliness and discipline to protect consumer interests.
- Save money.
- Be active in economic activities.
- Maintain financial discipline.
Political
- Protect the state.
- Respect democratic values and norms.
- Have positive thoughts toward the nation, society, and community.
- Participate in the governance system.
- Participate in voting.
Environmental
- Properly use renewable energy.
- Protect the environment.
- Cooperate in sustainable development.
Citizen Duties
As per Part 3, Article 48 of Nepal's Constitution:
- To be loyal to the nation and protect Nepal's nationality, sovereignty, and integrity.
- To abide by the constitution and laws.
- To provide compulsory service when required by the state.
- To protect and preserve public property.
Challenges
- Include civic awareness topics in school and university education.
- Develop programs to instill national love in citizens.
- Promote civic awareness through informal education.
- Prioritize civic awareness in media.
- Conduct youth development and mobilization programs.
- Reduce immorality and corruption in society.
- Make civic awareness the basis for peaceful nation-building.
- Link civic awareness with skills.
- Prevent brain drain of national talents.
- Use modern technology to develop civic awareness.