Citizenship not just about rights but duties towards society as well: CJI Bobde

On Saturday, Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde spoke at the 107th convocation of the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) where he stated that citizenship was not only about people's 'rights,' but also about their 'duties' towards the society. The Chief Justice also stated that some educational institutes had become "extremely commercially-minded" and the need was to address the "purpose" of university education. 

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"Today, education is proliferating. Unfortunately there are some institutes, I am not talking about universities, which have become extremely commercially-minded. I say this from my personal knowledge of certain institutes which profess to teach law. The most important question we should address is what is the purpose of university education. Universities are not about brick and mortar certainly. Universities aren't supposed to function like assembly line of a production unit," the CJI said.

CJI on discipline vs indiscipline

The CJI also stated that University degrees were like means to an end and not an end in themselves. He said that universities should reflect what we want to achieve as a society. "Closely connected with the idea of education is the idea of discipline and I understand that there is growing resentment in some areas about the idea of discipline. But the word discipline does not mean what it has come to mean today," he said. 

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"A university degree gives tools to chisel one's future. What one carves out through the help of these tools is the choice and wisdom of the craftsmen. Tools don't chisel on their own, one needs to be guided by moral compass that resides within. You all have a responsibility to be an active citizen too and citizenship isn't only about rights but it is equally about duties towards society," the CJI said.

The CJI also quoted Martin Luther King and said that the icon had given us some great insights about discipline and indiscipline. "He said the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education," Bobde said.

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(With agency inputs)