How do we make India clean and keep it that way?

 Indian PM’s beckon of Swachh Bharat has caught the imagination of the people in the cities and many other places; many icons of our times have shown their symbolic support; various organizations are encouraging their folks to join the movement. It is very fulfilling to dream Indian public places to be free from litter, poster and nuisance. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Similarly, our dreams cannot be reality overnight. It will take time, for sure. It’s important that we make progress in the right way. Are we on the right path? Possibly not!

Let us examine the root causes behind our unclean environs and check if the current actions are addressing them. Nobody sound in one’s mind, likes to see dirt and filth around oneself. Yet, we find people living in those wretched conditions or contributing towards making the environment dirty. Why? Of course, there are several reasons including lack of awareness, lack of time, lack of infrastructure and so on. But, the root cause is economic status of the family and the rest of the factors are all secondary. The adults in the family do not get a decent work and hence, their income is inconsistent and inadequate income; days and nights for them are fraught with challenges; when they get tired fighting against the odds, they get frustrated with their lives; their priorities turn financial and nothing else! Of course, education, healthcare, sanitation, fraternity, kindness and many other essentials of living a life become secondary.

The clarion call of Swachh Bharat is possibly a mere slogan and good to have! We need to think what’s a Must-Have. I think, it’s Financial Security.

Each family needs to be above the threshold of the financial security so that they can afford two square meals a day for each of the family members and can provide for the rainy days of one’s life. Once this is in place, automatically, the mind will open up for the next higher level of goals. Families will be aware of the requirements of a healthy living and a clean society. This will then self-sustain to keep the country clean in all aspects, not only its roads, buildings, playgrounds and markets but also the minds of its people to be reasonably free from jealousy, hatred and anger. Social evils such as terrorism, intolerance and dogmatic beliefs will automatically decline, if not eliminated.

We need creative minds to work towards building financial security for each family and address the root causes behind lack of a hygienic and clean India. This would catch the imagination of the people as well and be a stronger movement that will surely do a lot of good for us!