Swachh Bharat
Whenever you travelled back to India from an advanced foreign land you always wondered how come they can manage such cleanliness on the roads, washrooms, stations, metros and almost anywhere and everywhere.
I remember my days in the Indian capital where you were scared to travel to certain areas of the city and didn’t drink enough water for the fear of having to go through the ordeal of finding a clean washroom or would go through an open anesthesia from a public lavatory.
Neerad C Chaudhary the famous Anglophile and writer once wrote in his treatise the “The Continent of Circe” “India is an open shit house” While travelling in trains one would not eat food for the fear of having to use the public facility on the trains which scared you for your safety. I remember a German student of mine who was working for the Indo German Tool Room in Indore, narrating to me the horrendous experience of driving back home from office, about half an hour away to be able to use the wash room at home as his description of the Indian Lavatory put me to shame.
Then something very interesting happened, a couple of years ago. Swachh Bharat campaign (Clean India campaign) was introduced in India and I happened to be living in Indore, (which incidentally has been on number One position in India for the last four years in cleanliness). Like any other Indian I was skeptical about the efficacy of the project, as we Indians though pious in our approach to life, had very poor civic sense and had forgotten the concept of living in a community, (though the oldest known civilizations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa were Indian civilizations)
As a Vice President of our RWA, I managed enough support from the Executive body and members of the colony and did “Shram daan” voluntary service to clean the colony by brooming and sweeping the roads, common facilities, the temple area, gardens et al. Those days this trend of politicians and other leaders really caught on where the Selfie brigade did not lose an opportunity to take a couple of selfies doing some ornamental cleanliness drives.
These ornamental drives may not have really helped in improving cleanliness of the cities, but definitely did something interesting by focusing the issue of the desire to keep our cities clean. It then looked like a pipe dream what with Paan chewing Indians spitting anywhere on the roads, streets, freshly painted walls, malls…you name it and you would find the famous Hussain instant paintings littering the city.
Most of the famous pictures of men lining up against a wall in the open and urinating, were of Indian urologists( pardon the expression for the lack of a word for open urination) or the closest slang being , going round the corner( literally perhaps) or peeing.
But what has taken everybody in Indore by surprise is the storm that shook all shackles of behaviourial, thought and conceptual patterns. My observation as a citizen revolves around the following:
- Changing the Sarkari (Government) mindset of corporation and safai (scavengers) workers– It was believed that there existed a “jagirdari” concept amongst the scavengers and this they used to blackmail people. This age old tradition was broken and this so called “jagirdari” blackmail was done away with.
2. Bring about a concept of collaboration between stake holders, like end users, collection teams, disposal teams and populace at large– A normal citizen be it a professional outfit or regular residents, were charged a certain very minimal amount for the door to door collection of garbage in specialized vehicles.
3. Understanding the pain areas– The biggest impediment were the collection bins placed in colonies. They instead of helping, created a problem of dirt and muck flying all over. These huge collection bins were completely removed and replaced with mobile collection vans.
4. Creating a strategy– A detailed process of collection, sorting and processing was put in place thereby creating value at all points.
5. Getting rid of traditional waste collection methods– The wheel barrow collection from colonies was replaced by mobile vans by segregating the waste into Bio degradable and Non bio degradable waste.
6. Using technology – An application was launched on the mobiles and web where any complains could be lodged and there was a very strong follow up procedure developed. Modern methods of cleaning like trawlers were introduced. Plants for processing waste were introduced at various levels.
7. Private government partnership– A lot of private companies that specialized in managing waste were involved.
8. Involving NGOs– NGOs were engaged in bringing about a change of mind set and practices by going to the grass root levels and forming alert teams of villagers who helped in stopping open defecation.
9. Creating awareness– Awareness on the concept of having bathrooms in houses were launched. Celebrity endorsements were resorted to. A special jingle was created which was played on the collection vehicles and became a rage with people.
10. Massive mass contact plans– Rallies, meetings, shows, road–shows, presentations, creating brand ambassadors .
If Indore can do it and show the path, then it is a good idea for other states/cities to emulate a successful model.
