For social harmony to exist, the people of a particular society must feel ‘belongingness’. In current age and time, people are getting more and more disengaged with the polity of the country. It is only when these people become a part of decision making process, that they can feel a ‘togetherness’ with the community. LSGs give them an opportunity to do so. Robert Putnam has phrased this phenomenon of benefitting the overall society by benefit yourself as “Once citizens are positively oriented towards government and the other citizens, they are more inclined towards contributing toward the building of social capital.”
LSGs are also included in the definition of a ‘State’ as meant in the Article 12 of our Constitution. Thus, fundamental rights of individuals can be enforced against LSGs. Considering that social harmony includes in its definition the right to equality, freedom, religion etc., LSGs, by their very existence, help in promoting social harmony through negative feedback loop as well. If LSGs somehow are acting against
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For instance, untouchability is prohibited by our constitution right from its inception, but the practitioners of this practice would need to be reported on to ensure the abolition of the practice and the marginalised groups of the society who are a victim of the practice do not have the means and at times even intentions (for fear of retribution) to bring it to the notice of authorities at state or centre level. In such cases, the LSGs have to be the watch dogs of the society to ensure discontinuation of such practice without leaving a discontent in the mind of either the victim or the perpetrator though awareness generation and carrot and stick approach for abstaining from or indulging in such