Students and Social Service, Especially in Modern India
by I want to describe these points in this article. Social service, its necessity, specially in modern India, how students can participate in it, caution, it develops their power of organization, widens their sympathy and makes of them use citizens.
Man is a social animal. This means he cannot live alone; he lives in society consisting not only of his own family, but also of some other families. And the peace and happiness of each individual depends to a great extent upon what he gets from the other members of his society. So we are all indebted to one another in some form or other. Thus arises the duty of social service-the duty of paying back a part of our debts by doing some service of society.
The students have an important role to play in this respect. They have idealism and great energy. This is why they are the first to come forward in works of social service. In modern India social service is a ‘must’ for our students. The common people here suffer from a great number of ills-illiteracy, bad customs and superstitions, ignorance of the laws of health and of their rights and duties, etc. Our students can do a lot to remove these ills by educating the people in the proper way. They may conduct night schools and instruct the ignorant about their country’s history, moral values, evils of superstition, need of cooperation, laws of health and social life, duties as citizens, etc. They may help in the construction of roads and clearing of ponds and ditches in their localities. They may even help the authorities in their fight against illegal hoarding and rowdyism. In cases of floods and such other calamities, they should volunteer for relief work. Their words and examples, inspired by idealism, cannot but be more effective than the words of officials and advices of village elders. But students should see that their activities are kept within proper bounds and do not degenerate into a type of rowdyism and indiscipline.
All these activities, properly directed, will not only benefit the people; they will also do a great deal of good to the students themselves. They will develop their spirit of service and power of organization, widen their sympathy, and thus enable them to become worthy members of society.
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