Hyderabad:
Educated Indians must clean up act: Farida Tampal
I may not agree with the some of the decisions taken up by the present government, but this was one campaign that I felt is the need of the hour. Often, in my presentations at various forums, I have talked about the genetic abnormality of Indians to be unclean spitting, and answering nature’s call (with a fountain of urine) in any public location.
The print and electronic media were full of images of the cleanliness drive taken up by the ministers, each trying to outdo the other. Each was carrying a new broom, wearing new aprons and, face masks, and sweeping places that were already clean, with only a few mineral water bottles strewn around.
What about our conservancy workers across the country who toil day and night to keep our streets clean? Has anyone ever stopped to check her/his views on this campaign? Should we not be providing them the same facilities aprons, gloves and proper shoes? The urban-rural divide among these workers is also very stark. Ever seen the man who goes down the sewage manhole to clean our choked-with-plastic drains? How many of them have lost their lives due to the toxic fumes from these drains?
Will the Swachh Bharat campaign think of them too?
Clean habits feature in our primary class textbooks at school. Why have we forgotten the lessons? Many students in the urban schools tend to blame their rural counterparts for the filth.
A student from an elite school participating in one of my nature camps told me, “They throw garbage on the streets as they are illiterate.” Why, then, are the literate counterparts in cities so unclean? Will the campaign create an awakening among the literate too?
Will the city authorities be able to provide enough dust bins for those who want to throw litter in its right place?
What about those urban folk who walk past dustbins and throw litter next to it?
Education for Sustainable Development has been used the world over for imparting knowledge, attitudes and values for creating a sustainable future. However, few courses at school or college level in India have even a passing reference to this.
Every month in the calendar is of some socially or environmental significance. Ministers flag off rallies to mark the day to espouse the cause. We suddenly become patriotic on Independence Day and Repu-blic Day, although many have no idea why they are celebrated. Will this be the future of the Swachh Bharat campaign too?
Let’s hope that on the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi in 2019, we are able to give him a befitting tribute. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Campaign is trigger for social change: G. Kishan Reddy
Cleanliness is next to Godliness” is an irrefutable statement made by Gandhiji many years ago, which is relevant even today in contemporary India.
In the recently held general elections, Indian voters voted for positive and decisive change, when they voted for BJP giving it full mandate to lead this nation. PM Modi’s initiative on Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan is in the right direction at the right time.
The change has been initiated. This is not just a government programme, but a trigger for social change and an initiative for a new national perspective. ‘Clean India Campaign’ is a non-partisan, non-political, non-divisive, nationalist campaign. It is inclusive and invites people’s participation at all levels.
For this social campaign to succeed, it requires all parties, organisations, sections, and layers of the social spectrum to come together. India requires a massive unified attempt to clean up, and this initiative was long due.
If one were to connect the dots, it is clearly evident that ‘Clean India’ is ‘Healthy India’. The reprehensible situation of sanitation and hygiene in our country both in rural and urban areas points clearly at lopsided priorities of both the citizens and the government.
Without having to prioritise basic sanitation and hygiene, how can this nation achieve greatness in any other sphere of development? How can a nation with rampant disease and disability, especially which is self-induced with almost zero focus on cleanliness and hygiene, be productive and build national wealth? The BJP government has simply answered these questions with action. The way forward is to prioritise ‘Swachhata and Swaast’ (cleanliness and health)
The clarion call has been given by PM Modi to ‘Clean up India’, and this surely cannot be an incident or an event. It has to be an ongoing process, and a national habit. Modi himself cleaned up a complete stretch at a police station in Delhi with a broom, which exhibits sincerity, not the symbolism or a photo opportunity.
The cost of being unclean and unhygienic is being paid by everyone. While the poor are the worst hit by unaffordable medical bills, the middle and upper classes bear the brunt of contagious diseases and lowered productivity with their personal health at risk. It is imperative to also assess the cost disease directly to the national exchequer and thro-ugh loss to the national GDP.
India has always prioritised cleanliness. It is time we take up this initiative as a challenge to ensure that India can relive its core values by adopting a clean lifestyle. We must teach children that Swachh Bharat is Swaast Bharat.
