When our public spaces spaces are unclean, many socio-political factors are at play. It is important to take stock of these, if we are to find viable solutions. Some are citizen related and others are related to governance. Yet others are related to socio-economic development of the country in general.
1. Lack of Civic Sense and Pride
When the citizenry fails to adopt clean behaviours, it is difficult for any government to maintain clean spaces. Littering, spitting, urinating and defecating in public spaces are human behaviours that are difficult to police unless the vast majority of people change their attitudes towards these practices. Penalties and other deterrences work only when a few people err, not when a large segment society continues to defy the rules. For this the general public has to espouse a sense of ownership of these spaces and take pride in keeping them clean. Indians are a very proud people and take great pride in their country's achievements. The different states and regions also have their individual pride. It is somewhat perplexing that this pride does not apply to cleanliness of the public commons. One possibility is that society does not value cleanliness. However most Indian people value the cleanliness of their personal space and have no problem keeping their homes clean. The lack of pride is confined to the public space. We will explore the possible reasons for this in another article.
2. Lack of Governance
Poor governance at every level is endemic in India. Unclean public spaces are a sure sign of a poorly governed jurisdiction. Sixty five years after independence, we Indians appear unable to govern ourselves. Indian governance has been an empty promise - we have a lot of talent, we talk big but achieve little on the ground. How difficult is it to put the infrastructure in place to facilitate clean human behaviour? This is not rocket science. Many countries around the world have done it and are doing it. There is a profound absence of a culture of excellence in government service. The authorities and administrators should have the passion and drive to make their villages, towns and cities better. If you say this to the average Indian Babu, he would think you are mad. That attitude has to change. Elected office and government jobs are not for personal gain alone, but for the public good too. These folks at the present time, seem to lack patriotism, which is very sad. Corruption, the curse of our nation also wreaks havoc in this regard.
3. Poverty
Although India is no longer a poor country and its GDP is growing steadily, it has many poor people. The stark poverty is both urban and rural. When people are dirt poor it is difficult to preach cleanliness to them. It is simply not their priority. Theirs is a struggle for survival. Many people live in slums that are no better than huge garbage dumps and eke out a living as ragpickers. That said many societies around the world are poor but are not unclean. Although there are many reasons why poverty and squalor can go together, it is not always true that poverty-stricken places are necessarily unclean. Even in our own country there are villages that are poor but clean. For example Mawlynnong in Meghalaya a village in the economically depressed North East of India, is often called the cleanest village in Asia. But money does matter as the progress shown in the cities of Gujarat for instance demonstrate. By that measure the economically more progressive states should be cleaner. But Tamil Nadu one of the faster developing states, does lag behind in cleanliness despite rapid economic progress.
4. Illiteracy
Lack of education is definitely a barrier to better maintenance of public places. If people are uneducated, they fail to make the connection between uncleanliness, poor hygiene, sanitation and disease. Our education system has to inculcate a sense of public responsibility in our kids. The culture has to change. They should learn to take ownership of their country. Teachers have a huge responsibility here. We need motivated and passionate teachers. Kerala is one of the more literate states and is also one of the cleanest. So there certainly is an association. Again by this measure also Tamil Nadu should be cleaner than it is.
These are entrenched problems that need to be overcome to achieve our goal of clean public spaces in India. The country is progressing economically and literacy levels are rising. The poverty and illiteracy should eventually decrease. But for civic pride and good governance to take hold, economic progress alone may not be enough. We need a sea change in attitude.
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