Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India will deliver the Keynote Address in the Public Colloquium on Fundamental Duties to be held on July 14, 2012 at 10.30 am at Multipurpose Hall of the Gaiety Theatre Shimla. The public colloquium will focus on article 51 (A) (j) of the Constitution of India that lays down that it is the duty of every citizen “to strive towards excellence in all spheres of inpidual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.”This is the last colloquium in the series of public colloquiums on Fundamental Duties of the citizens being organised by the HP State Legal Services Authority in association with Directorate of Language and Culture, Swarn Education Welfare and Awareness (SEWA) Trust and Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) Shimla Chapter.Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph, Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh will preside over the function.There are many organizations that talk about rights ranging from Human Rights to Animal Rights. So many inpiduals and several groups-social, cultural, political-are involved in good work of protecting rights of the marginalized sections of society. However, rights correspond to duties but most of the time public discourse is focused on Rights. As a society we place disproportionate emphasis on our rights against our duties as citizens. Rights and duties are the two sides of the same coin. Our rights are inherent and fundamental; the Constitution simply safeguards and guarantees them. As rights are absolute so are duties, for every right there is a reciprocal duty. A right emanates from a duty discharged well.Realising that a democratic society cannot function without guaranteeing fundamental rights of its citizens and its citizens cannot function democratically without discharging their fundamental duties in society, the Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority started a meaningful discussion on the Fundamental Duties of Citizens enshrined in Article 51 A of the Constitution of India. These colloquiums were attended by large number of students, teachers, professionals from all walks of life and general public.The initiative started on 15 October, 2010 when a public discussion was organised on the Fundamental Duties. The discussion was presided over by Hon’ble Mr Justice Kurian Joseph, the Chief Justice of High Court of Himachal Pradesh and during the discussion it was decided to organise Public Colloquium on Fundamental Duties and to discuss one Fundamental Duty in each Colloquium.The Colloquium on July 14, 2012 will be attended by school and college students, professionals from all walks of life who will get an opportunity to interact with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.So far nine such Colloquiums have been organised and there has been meaningful discussions and interaction. This initiative has spread awareness among the public about their duties which are so closely linked to Fundamental Rights. Some of the speakers who have delivered lectures in the public colloquiums organised till date are Mr Justice Kurian Joseph, Hon'ble Chief Justice, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Justice R. B. Misra, Mr Justice Deepak Gupta, Mr Justice D. D. Sood, Mr Justice V. K. Ahuja, Mr Justice Surinder Singh, Mr Justice Sanjay Karol, Mr Justice Rajiv Sharma, Mr Justice VK Sharma, Hon'ble Judges of High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Sh Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Prof Yashpal, Educationist and Scientist, Dr Sunita Narain, Environmentalist, Dr Peter Ronald deSouza, Director Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Mrs Rajwant Sandhu (then) Chief Secretary, Dr D. S. Manhas, Director General of Police, HP, Dr. Shrikant Baldi, Principal Secretary (Finance) Government of Himachal Pradesh