‘SWACHCHHATA MISSION’

Anadiranjan Biswas
Of late, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi has introduced a mission named ‘Swachchh Bharat Abhijan’ with the aim to keep the country garbage-free, neat and clean. Consequent upon the introduction hereof, two types of reactions are being noticed by us. Firstly, holding long- handle brooms on their hands, team(s) consisting of and/or led by Ministers, MPs, MLAs and other VIPs/dignitaries are being seen in different cities sweeping the roads and cleaning garbage before the movie-cameras of media-persons, as if
they would clean the whole country’s garbage within a day. On the other hand, the opposition-leaders sitting in their air-conditioned rooms are showering sermons saying ‘these have nothing to do with cleanliness; but just photo-sessions’.
Before making any comments on this issue, I necessarily admit that it is very important to keep our surroundings neat and clean; and if each one and every one of us plays his/her respective role(s) for this mission, one day the surface of our country will definitely be garbage-free. From that point of view, this mission of the Hon’ble Prime Minister is praise-worthy and a welcome one. This mission sufficiently proves that the Hon’ble Prime Minister really thinks for
his fellow-countrymen, particularly the most ordinary people, and that is why this mission has been introduced by him. Even, he himself has held the broom on his hands and gave a lesson to those citizens who use to think that making/keeping surroundings clean is the job only of the professional sweepers and concerned employees of corporations.
Here remains the criticism by the oppositions; which, of course, can be annulled and set aside inasmuch as in the present scenario they have nothing to do except criticizing.
Now some obvious questions arise here:-
(a) Whether the whole country will become ‘garbage-free’ if we keep our surroundings neat and clean ?
(b) Whether the image of India shall become clean to rest of the world, if we keep our outer environments/ surroundings garbage-free ?
(c) Whether a suit-clad hooligan can be termed as ‘social’ and ‘gentleman’?
(d) Whether there is no other garbage(s) except the outer surface-dirt in India ?
‘Transparency International’ (TI), a Berlin-based INGO (functioning in many countries of the world including India too) has published a list of corrupt countries in 2014, where details of corruption practiced by 175 countries of the world have been given. In this list, India finds its place at 85th position (in 2013, it was 94th) by securing just 38% marks. In this list, five topper and clean (almost corruption-free) countries are (1) Denmark (92%), New Zealand (91%), Finland (89%), Sweden (87%) and Norway (86%). According to the other survey conducted in 2011 by the TI, out of 28 (twenty-eight) highest bribe-giver countries (in cases of international deals), India has taken 19th position. As per yet another TI-survey regarding control of corruption, India secures hopeless mark, just (minus) 0.516719172, where the lowest and highest scores on this count range between (minus) 2.5 and (plus) 2.5. Are not these ‘garbage’ for a Nation like India ? Who is ‘to bell the cat’ as far as cleaning of this garbage is concerned ?
TI’s website cites ‘…a study conducted by Transparency International in the year 2005 found that more than 62% of Indians had firsthand experience of paying bribes … to get jobs done in public offices successfully. As of December 2008, 120 of India’s 523 parliament members were accused of crimes … Many of the biggest scandals since
2010 have involved very high level government officials, including Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers, such as in the 2G spectrum scam (Rs.1,76,000 Crore), the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam (Rs.70,000 Crore), the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Coal Mining Scam (Rs.1,86,000 Crore), the Mining Scandal in Karnataka and the Cash for Vote scam’ etc. Till date, these ‘dirt/garbage(s) have not been cleaned.
All the above-mentioned facts and figures are related to the greater Nation. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, where we do live in, there is also a lot of ‘garbage’, but of slightly other types. Out of ten Govt. Offices situated in A&N Islands, almost in eight offices, one can find that the walls (particularly alongside the staircases) are coloured with human spit mixed with betel-nut. Isn’t this dirt ? If one takes an early morning walk on the roads and lanes/bye-lanes of Port Blair city, it can be found that private two/three/four wheelers are parked by making lines on both the sides of the roads/lanes. Are not this garbage on ‘public roads/lanes’? Who would raise voice for cleaning such garbage? Port Blairian house-owners, while constructing new buildings and/or extending the existing ones, are of the nature to
dump building materials such as sand, stone-chips, hollow-blocks, large water tanks etc. alongside the roads. Sometimes, three-fourth portion of the road is blocked with such dumping. Are not these ‘garbage’ to a civil society ?
As a matter of fact, dirt/garbage is now everywhere – in our minds, in our hearts, in our brains, in our thoughts, in our patriotism (‘so-called’), in our ‘concern for the others’, in our ‘love towards the country’. Mere long-handled brooms can not clean these dirt/garbage(s). To clean these types of garbage ‘values’ are required – now-a-days, which we have lost entirely. (Editor, BAAKPROTIMA, Port Blair, A&N Islands; Ex-Governing Council Member (2006-2009), Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata; Writer awarded with A&N Islands’ Highest Civil Honour’ – Hon’ble LG’s Commendation Certificate (on 26 January 2010).