2nd Oct, 2019 marked the 5th Anniversary of the launch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet campaign – the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. And ever since the campaign was kicked off, this is my 5th post on the topic with the central theme being the same which I will come to, just in a while. While launching the program way back in 2014 just after coming to power, I remember Narendra Modi clearly saying that a “Clean India” would be a fitting tribute we would give to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. Even back then, I had said that the very noble thought notwithstanding, turning India into a Swachh Bharat cannot happen in 5 years.
If one takes stock today, India would not have turned into a squeaking clean nation but a valiant beginning has indeed been made. After the program got launched, within the government a Swachh Bharat Mission was kicked off, breaking down the overarching objective of a Clean India into many, many micro goals with measurable targets. This included stuff like constructing toilets in rural and urban India, making India Open Defecation Free (ODF) completely, achieving rural sanitation, sustainable solid waste management and so on. The thrust given to this program from a top down push and resources point of view has been unprecedented. Just purely looking at the results from a data stand point they are impressive.
Going by the numbers presented in the budget in May 2019, in the 5 years since the program was kicked off, 9.6 crore toilets have been constructed while more than 5.6 lakh villages have become Open Defecation Free. The Finance Minister had then said, “More than 95% of cities have also been declared ODF. More than 45,000 public and community toilets across 1,700 cities have been uploaded on Google maps, covering more than 53% of India’s urban population”! Now considering the sheer magnitude of the task in hand in India, these are not mean achievements and credit needs to be given to the Government, where due. And when the Prime Minister on 2nd Oct said that “rural India and its villages have declared themselves “open defecation free” there were the usual sneers and sniggers around the same, questioning if there will not be any person who will defecate in the open from the next day in India!
In spite of all this capacity building and pouring in of resources by the Government, has India become clean? The answer is probably “No”. But from 2014 levels, it has perhaps become cleaner. People who visited Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s constituency say that the city is much cleaner, the Ghats are approachable and clean. All over India we keep seeing public clicking pictures from Railway stations and posting in social media regularly as to how cleaner they have become since 2014. It is undeniable that many places of tourist interest look much cleaner now than ever before. So far, so good. At the same time, we still see islands of squalor even in urban centres. Garbage is littered all over the place.
So what has been the problem? While the Government has been doing its bit in running awareness programs around cleanliness, placing dust bins all over the place, constructing toilets, making sanitation accessible so on, we as public have failed the country. Our attitudes towards cleanliness haven’t changed a wee bit.
- We have not stopped littering in public places.
- We have not stopped spitting in the open.
- We have not stopped painting the town red with paan spitting day in and day out.
- We have not stopped urinating or shitting in the open even when toilets can be found in the vicinity.
- We don’t clean the dog poop even inside our posh apartment complexes while walking them every day.
- We have not stopped throwing garbage in all areas except into the dustbins in the streets.
- We have not stopped mixing wet and dry garbage though the authorities have been requesting for a while now.
- We have not stopped feeding our pets and others from the balconies.
- And we have not stopped from wanting the Government/Corporation/Authorities to keep cleaning the filth we create.
- And finally we have not stopped dreaming about a “Clean India” without putting any effort from our side.
Coming back to my pet theme which I referred in the beginning, if we think that Swachh Bharat is about cleaning, then we are grossly mistaken. SWACHH BHARAT IS NOT ABOUT CLEANING, BUT TO REDUCE THE NEED FOR CLEANING IN THE FIRST PLACE!
It is an oft repeated take that the same Indians when we step out of India change our attitudes towards public cleanliness like “Switched On robots” while in India we behave as “Switched Off Morons”!
Having observed closely how things are in our country and world over, I have come to the conclusion that the attitude towards public cleanliness is not a Rich Vs Poor thing. It is not an Educated Vs Uneducated either. It is not even Urban Vs Rural divide. It has nothing to do with Caste, Creed, Religion and so on. It is complex function of a combination of things like Awareness, Empathy, Upbringing, Education, Access, Priority, Laws etc. In short, having an empathetic attitude towards cleanliness not just in one’s own private spaces but more importantly in public places!
This is why I am of the opinion that, since transforming attitudes is a generational thing, it will take at least a couple of generations from here for India to be called a “Clean India”. That is about 50 years from now! And the key to make it happen is investing in resources and time in schools to create, nurture and spread the importance of having the right attitude towards Swachata! While the present Governments at the centre, states, districts and at panchayats continue to work on what they are doing currently, admirably, they and the future Governments must focus on schools at all levels to “indoctrinate” kids at a young age about cleanliness. Investing in the future generations is the only hope we have to achieve the dream of a Swachh Bharat! Cannot wait that long for a Swachh Bharat? Then we must stop complaining of what the Government is not doing and start reducing the need for cleaning! Basically stop some of the things I have listed above.
Does that mean that the campaign is a failure? Certainly not. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has helped to bring “Cleanliness” to the mainstream agenda of the country. Far long, we had neglected such basic issues of Nation building. So, kudos are in order to Narendra Modi for waking up India towards Swachata! Swachh Bharat may still be a dream for us now, but certainly not a pipe dream!
Rightly said Anand…. It is attitude of the people which will only help achieving the clean India notwihstanding how much ever campaign or money going to be invested by govt. One additional point, why is no one taking about employment this initiative of the govt has generated.
Right Ramana! Agree. I think the jobs generated is only an aside effect!
Thanks for writing in
Anand – Very well articulated n you analysed threadbare too 👏👏
This is an area which requires effort at individual level. As you rightly commented, people can’t expect results when they don’t follow at their end first.
Most countries known for cleanliness n sanitation, reached that level through strict implementation of rules and penalised heavily for non-compliance
True Mukund – when we as people don’t do our bit, we don’t deserve a clean India! There is no point in then blaming the authorities.
In a “default Non compliant” society like ours, it is difficult to push anything thro rules as you know very well! That also opens itself upto petty corruption,…