Name-Priyanshu Khandelwal End Sem Speech 190C2020012

Is Every citizen should be mandated to perform national public service?

What exactly is meant by ‘National Public Service’? Any service whose impact is beneficial to the
community at large within the country is deemed as National Service. This service is the government's
primary function to ensure the betterment of the lives of people under its jurisdiction. Public services
extend opportunities to all strata of society, protect the vulnerable, and improve everyone’s quality of
life. They are essential to the economic development and prosperity of any country. Public services
include cleaning religious institutions, cooking food for poor and hungry people, donating clothes and
books, helping government agencies, offering labour, planting trees, and many more.

Compulsory public service by the citizens of a country is not a new concept. Several countries across
the globe make it mandatory to participate in some form of public service or another. In total, about 75
countries have some form of mandatory service. These could include learning first aid, tutoring or
serving in the military for a certain period of time, and many more activities.

Proposals in the United States to implement compulsory trace back to the 1800s. More recently,
between 2003 and 2013, former US Representative Charles Rangel made five unsuccessful attempts to
pass the Universal National Service Act, which would have required all people in the United States
between ages 18 and 42 to either serve in the military or perform civilian service related to national
defense.

The US military draft, created during the Civil War, is one type of mandatory national service. However,
although all male US citizens ages 18 to 25 must register with the Selective Service, the United States
has an all-volunteer army and hasn’t drafted men into the military since 1973 when around 2.2 million
men were drafted into the military during the Vietnam War.

Public opinion on mandatory national service is split: 49% favored one year of required service for
young Americans in a 2017 poll, while 45% were opposed. Among adults ages 18 to 29, who would be
required to complete the service, 39% were for the proposal and 57% were against it.

Arguments in favor of National Public Service:

● Mandatory national service would foster unity and bring people from diverse backgrounds
together - Around 30 countries have compulsory military service. Switzerland, which has four
official languages and three major ethnic groups, bridges its divides with a mandatory national
service program. The European nation is identified as one of the happiest countries in the
world by the United Nations.

● Compulsory service would save the government money and provide benefits to all citizens - A
report from the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education found that youth national service
programs in the United States cost a total of $1.7 billion annually and returned a value of $6.5
billion, creating a social benefit of 3.95 times more than the cost of in National Parks service,
finding jobs for unemployed persons.
 ● Performing national service would help young people mature and serve as a bridge to adulthood
- 98% of students who took a gap year between high school and college reported that the
deferment helped them develop as people and 97% said it increased their maturity. One of the
Professors at the University of California at Berkeley, advocated for 18- to 21-year-olds to
complete two years of service either in the armed forces or in needy communities, saying, “We
know that we as a society need these services. I would argue that young Americans would be
given a sense of maturity and competence by providing them.”

● It is a Constructive Use Of Time for the Youth and Senior Citizens.

● It would Unify People across Race, Gender, and Class.

● It promotes Equality Among Citizens.

● It will offer helpful Skills - like teamwork, responsibility, initiative, stress management, diversity,
and international awareness.

● It also ensures High Levels of Governmental Participation

Arguments against National Public Service:

● National service doesn't need to be mandatory because the volunteer system is booming - 28% of
millennials have volunteered for a total of 1.5 billion community service hours annually. Several
voluntary civilian service programs already exist, such as AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and
the Peace Corps, in addition to limitless volunteer opportunities throughout the country.

● Mandating national service violates the constitution and infringes on the freedom to choose what
to do with our lives - First Amendment of the Constitution of India says that every citizen has
the right to freedom so that what they do to their lives.

● A mandatory service program would be manipulated by the rich and unfairly harm others - A
period of mandatory service could be a hardship for families and communities that would lose
their young people who are already performing service by contributing to the household
income, babysitting for neighbors, or caring for sick relatives. Compulsory service would delay
people’s entry into the workforce, resulting in significant lost earnings for some.

● The burden to the Organizations where they Work - Disinterested candidates can be a nightmare
for NGOs and Public service providers. Especially in the case of the military, where if a young
man wounds himself fatally, it would tarnish the image of the institution, and children who
genuinely want to join the military might be put off.

● I can be the place young people’s lives are at risk.

● Not most are suitable - A study conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of
America showed that about 40,000 military members who came from war in Asian nations and
the Islamic State of Afghanistan suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

● Interferes with alternative sorts of Education - Mandatory military service generally drafts
young men (and women) after they are at the height of their brains (18 years old). This delays
individuals’ pursuit of education also as their entry into the civilian labor market, reducing
returns to human-capital investments as a result.
So I conclude that There are those who contend that the citizens of this country must be compelled to
engage in public service. This may seem like the most patriotic thing to do but the Bill of Rights clearly
stipulates that no citizen can be forced by the government to do something.
This is also an unproductive exercise because coercion can lead to defiant behavior and costly
litigation. It is the job of the government to persuade people to join.

Around 75 countries have a form of compulsory military and civic service like Singapore. Also, in a
democratic country, like India, the state cannot compel any citizen to try to do any public service, but
under Article 51A of the Constitution of India, the citizens shall have the duty and Fundamental Duty
to defend the country and render service when called upon to try to so. Every new policy needs to be
looked at from several angles before being brought into practice. Mandatory national service is one
such topic, and ideally, when the federal panel issues its decision, it will consider both the legality and
ethicality of such services. In my personal opinion, For a happy country, I believe the government
should not impose mandatory National Public Service. I want to suggest that the government should
compulsory the National Public service for ages 18 to 30 as youth people can be helpful for a country’s
growth. The spirit of volunteerism must be cultivated. The government must demonstrate that public
servants are well-appreciated. As a result, there would be more volunteers that are ready and able to
serve.