Editor, Goemkarponn
AERIAL VIEW
The objectives of the Clean India mission as stated by the government of India are to eliminate open defecation, to convert insanitary toilets into pour flush toilets, to enable the business environment for private sector participation in sanitation and public health-related issues, and to raise awareness among citizens about the linkages between sanitation and public health.
While the mission’s intent and purpose have been well received by major political parties in India, cutting across partisan lines, critics worry if this kind of campaign is increasingly becoming a photo-opportunity for celebrities craving for some news space.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Well on October 1 & 2, we saw most of the politicians, leaders, social workers, film stars, sportsperson sporting a broom for the Swachhta Abiyan call given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While there is nothing wrong in coming out with a broom and cleaning your surroundings, what amazes us is why in the areas which are already clean? or why just day of the year?
There is no debating that after the call given by PM Narendra Modi soon after he was voted to power in 2014 for a cleanliness drive on October 2, there is a sense of awareness amongst the people. Modi called upon every Indian to realise Gandhi’s dream of clean surroundings and brought a fading Gandhian ideal back into public imagination.
Educated people think twice before they throw the waste on the roadsides etc as such there is a sense of responsibility amongst people, atleast the educated class.
But what about others, as we write here, there are several black spots in the Panaji city itself where despite the Corporation of City of Panaji collecting the garbage daily, some people just still throw their waste on the roadsides. Why?
Of course this collection is only ion Panaji, Margao or main cities but what about others?
With new-found awareness, many young people avoid littering in the open. But where should they dispose of their trash? It is rare to find trash cans on the streets of Goa’s tier-I and tier-II cities. Urban development authorities need to put up trash bins every 200 meters, since they are a precondition for increasing awareness about litter.
Garbage dumping sites in the outskirts of cities are overloaded with trash and are expanding to ecologically sensitive regions including wetlands.
Though Swachh Bharat has evoked unprecedented media coverage and created public awareness on the need to keep surroundings clean, a lot more needs to be done to realize the Clean India goal by 2025, as Modi aspires to do. The government must address numerous challenges and ground-level realities if it is serious about achieving its mission.
Furthermore, the lack of hygiene is thought to have deeply impacted the tourism industry. International tourists find it extremely difficult to find usable toilets, littered beaches, trash on the roadsides or in the public places, leaving them with a negative impression of the country.
Photo-ops, the Hidden Purpose of Clean India?
The objectives of the Clean India mission as stated by the government of India are to eliminate open defecation, to convert insanitary toilets into pour flush toilets, to enable the business environment for private sector participation in sanitation and public health-related issues, and to raise awareness among citizens about the linkages between sanitation and public health.
While the mission’s intent and purpose have been well received by major political parties in India, cutting across partisan lines, critics worry if this kind of campaign is increasingly becoming a photo-opportunity for celebrities craving for some news space. Public awareness and civic participation are no doubt important. However, the government also needs to have a comprehensive action plan, make budgetary provisions, encourage community-led sanitation, periodically monitor the implementation of its initiatives, and create and maintain a modern infrastructure, in order to accomplish the ambitious goal of becoming Clean India by 2019.
If the Modi government is serious about cleaning India, it can begin by building usable public toilets on a mass scale and working together with corporations, local communities, and non-profits in their maintenance.
The Swachh Bharat campaign is definitely a good start, but it needs to become more than a mere slogan. Otherwise, it will end up being added to the long list of India’s many paradoxes.
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