Towards a cleaner India

Source: Google images

According to UNICEF 2014 report, India tops in the list of countries where people defecate in the open, exposing them to the soil and water-borne diseases which is the second biggest cause of death of children under five after respiratory infections. The government had launched ‘clean India’ campaign last year which aims at making India litter and dirt free in the next five years and Open Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2019. We need to accept that the vast section of our population still prefers to defecate in the open. There are people who carelessly throw garbage in the open streets, litter in the water and there are others who defaced walls and buildings of public property.

There are thousands of slums in India that do not have proper access to toilet and condition is worse in metro cities. Not going too far, the river Ganga is the largest river in India and has lot of religious importance but unfortunately over the years we people have made its condition so dilapidated that even after launching a series of projects, it would still take years to get clean.

Source: Gyangreen.com

People have become habituated doing this for years and to change them, it is very important to trigger change in their behaviour and more so in their habits. Cleanliness is basically a subject of etiquette for which one should have that mindset also. PM Modi’s call for clean India must be appreciated and adopted by each one of us. Community participation along with stringent punishment will do a lot in bringing a desired change. Healthy surroundings will only shape healthy thoughts and it further will shape healthy attitude. Let’s do it to convert this dream a reality and make India a cleaner place to live in!