Emphasizing “Clean India” on August 15, 2014 in his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister Modi said that this trend is linked with the economic activity of the state.
By Aparna Nayak
Abstract:
Mahatma Gandhi
was mindful of the poor position of Indian rural people at that time and he
dreamt of a cleaner India, where he emphasized on cleanliness and sanitation as
an intact function of surviving. President Pranab Mukherjee in his address to
Parliament in June 2014, said, “For ensuring hygiene, waste management and
sanitation across the nation a “Swachh Bharat Mission” will be established.
This will be our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth
anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019”. The Narendra Modi Government later established the “Swachh Bharat” movement to solve the sanitation
problem in India, to solve the problem of waste management and make India a
clean state, ensuring hygiene all across the nation. Emphasizing “Clean India”
on August 15, 2014 in his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister said that
this trend is linked with the economic activity of the state. This missionary
work for creating a clean India launched on October 2, 2014, the birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with the objective of completing the mission in
2019, the 150th birth anniversary of the father of the country.
Keywords: Waste, Clean
India, Developing Countries, Solid Waste, Waste Management
1. Introduction
Sustainability
Revolution was beginning in 1960-1970 with an environmental movement, its
emergence in 1980’s and at full-fledged condition in 1990’s. The Ecological
awareness was first raised by American writer and naturalist Rachel Carson’s
and other environmentalist with the first earth day with attracted 20 million
people and educated the people about the impact of industrial society on the
environment.
Sustainability
Revolution turned out as a diverse, worldwide, and multicultural and multi
perspective revolution on the 3E’s, by focusing in all of them simultaneously
leads to positive change both within and among societies. Ecology/Environment,
Economy/Employment, Equity/Equality, all these 3E’s are important in
Sustainability, as it gives us strategy to move from unsustainable practice to
a global relationship with nature that reconfigures not only human relationship
with the earth and its biological diversity but also the structure of values
for integrating ecological and economic issues (Munier. N (2005) [1]
.
First,
Ecology/Environment sustainability is important for the human existence which
includes air, water, heating, cooling and food that is safe to eat. This
existence on ecosystem will disturbed on ecological crisis like destruction of
oceans by overfishing, forests by clear-cutting and fresh water by toxins and
pollutants. Second, Economy/Employment sustainability is important for creating
long term employment but not on the stakes of ecosystem. As said by Hawken,
Amory and Hunter “natural capital, made up of resources, living systems and
ecosystem services” it is important for economic development as the more
conventionally recognized human, financial and manufactured form of capital.
Third, Equity/Equality sustainability is important for community as a whole in
terms of ecological and long term economic development. It tells the well-being
of individual and large community is interdependent. There must be equitable
distribution of resources for long term viability of the society.
However, nearly
every human activity creates some kind of waste. As countries develop
economically, socially, and technologically―industrializing, urbanizing, and
expanding in population―waste generation increases. The problems associated
with waste affect both developed and developing countries. Globally, we live in
“throw-away” societies in which we consume packaged products that often do not
last past a single use or even a year, and we discard as waste what we no
longer want. This wasteful lifestyle seriously impacts the environment, public
health, and produces social and economic problems. Waste disposal can have
serious environmental impacts: landfills consume land space, and cause air,
water and soil pollution―including the emission of greenhouse gases, while
incineration results in emissions of dangerous air pollutants. Our consumptive
and often wasteful behavior needs to be examined, and changed, so that we can
live more sustainably.
In the
developing country like India Waste management is always been a major problem.
Faced with rapid population growth, disorganization of city governments, a lack
of public awareness and limited funding for programs, cities have struggled for
years to find a way to responsibly manage the country’s ever-increasing amount
of trash. The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization
(CPHEEO) has estimated that waste generation in India could be as much as 1.3
pounds per person per day. That figure is relatively low, compared to the 4.6
pounds of waste generated per person per day in the US. However, as of July
2009, the US population was close to 307 million, whereas India’s population
was nearly four times greater, at 1.2 billion (Earth 911. Trash Planet: India,
2009) [2] .
These statistics
mean that India could be generating as much as 27 million more tons of waste
than the US per year, although it has only one-third the land space when it
comes to finding suitable locations for final disposal. India’s rapid
population growth only magnifies the problem. The urban population has grown at
a rate of more than 20 percent each year since 1980 and is projected to reach a
rate of more than 30 percent by 2015. Many argue that the country’s poorly
organized waste management scheme will continue to result in serious health
problems and irreversible damage to the environment. Most agree that the government,
industry and citizens need to work together to make major improvements (Singh.
K. The CSR Journal) [3]
.
Under those
circumstances, global population rose to 6.9 billion in 2010 and the majority
of people live in developing countries (UN-HABITAT, 2006-2007) [4]
. A major challenge is how to manage the ever-increasing waste generated,
especially in developing countries already lacking a sufficient public service
infrastructure to manage municipal waste, and where poverty and unplanned
settlements lead to unmanaged waste. In this paper I will discuss the most
popular movement now in India which is not only playing and serving at large
scale in the history but also a great example for developing nations to move
towards sustainability which is “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or clean India”. Clean
India is a national campaign by the Government of India, covering 4041
statutory towns, to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.
2. The Pledge
for All
PM Narendra Modi
has urged each and every one to pledge the following as a part of the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan: (Clean India Journal, I Pledge) [5]
“I take this
pledge that I will remain committed towards cleanliness and devote time for
this. I will devote 100 hours per year―that is two hours per week―to voluntary
work for cleanliness. I will neither litter nor let others litter. I will
initiate the quest for cleanliness with myself, my family, my locality, my
village and my work place. I believe that the countries of the world that
appear clean are so because their citizens don’t indulge in littering nor do
they allow it to happen.
With this firm
belief, I will propagate the message of Swachh Bharat Mission in villages and
towns. I will encourage 100 other persons to take this pledge which I am taking
today. I will endeavor to make them devote their 100 hours for cleanliness. I
am confident that every step I take towards cleanliness will help in making my
country clean.”―Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India.
3. The Clean
India Campaign
The Prime
Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi launched this campaign officially on 2
October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi and he himself cleaned the road. About 3
million government employees, school and college students of India participated
in this event and it is considered as India’s biggest ever cleanliness drive.
The modules of the programme are:
a) Construction of individual sanitary
latrines for households below the poverty line with subsidy (80%) where demand
exists.
b) Conversion of dry latrines into low-cost sanitary latrines.
c)
Construction of exclusive village sanitary complexes for women providing
facilities for hand pumping, bathing, sanitation and washing on a selective
basis where there is not adequate land or space within houses and where village
panchayats are willing to maintain the facilities.
d) Setting up of sanitary
marts.
e) Total sanitation of villages through the construction of drains,
soakage pits, solid and liquid waste disposal.
f) Intensive campaign for
awareness generation and health education to create a felt need for personal,
household and environmental sanitation facilities (Clean India Journal.
Creating Cleanliness) [6]
.
The Narendra
Modi Government launched the “Swachh Bharat” movement to solve the sanitation
problem and waste management in India by ensuring hygiene across the country.
Emphasizing on “Clean India” in his 2014 Independence Day speech, PM Modi said
that this movement is associated with the economic activity of the country. The
prime objective of the mission is to create sanitation facilities for all. It
aims to provide every rural family with a toilet by 2019 (Rukmini. S. October,
2014. The Hindu) [7] .
Modi has
directly linked the Clean India movement with the economic health of the
nation. This mission, according to him, can contribute to GDP growth, provide a
source of employment and reduce health costs, thereby connecting to an economic
activity. Cleanliness is no doubt connected to the tourism and global interests
of the country as a whole. It is time that India’s top 50 tourist destinations
displayed highest standard of hygiene and cleanliness so as to change the
global perception (Phukan. S.R, September, 2014) [8]
.
Clean India can
bring in more tourists, thereby increasing the revenue. He has appealed to the
people to devote 100 hours every year to cleanliness. Not only had the
sanitation programme, Modi also laid emphasis on solid waste management and
waste water management. He has also directed that separate toilets for boys and
girls should be provided in every school in the country by 15 August, 2015.
According to
government data, in January 2015, 7.1 lakh individual household toilets have
been built under this dream project. This number is considered the highest for
any month since its launch in October 2014. 31.83 lakhs individual toilets have
been built until January 2015. So far, Karnataka is the best performer by
achieving 61% of the target while Punjab is the worst performer by achieving 5%
of the target (Sharma. Y. Feburary, 2015) [9]
.
With effect from
1 April 1999, the Government of India restructured the Comprehensive Rural
Sanitation Programme and launched the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). To give
a fillip to the Total Sanitation Campaign, effective June 2003 the government
launched an incentive scheme in the form of an award for total sanitation
coverage, maintenance of a clean environment and open defecation-free panchayat
villages, blocks and districts called Nirmal Gram Puraskar. Effective 1 April
2012, the TSC was renamed to Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (SBA). On 2 October 2014 the
campaign was launched as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Coates. S; Dulk. D.C. November,
2014. Elsevier connect) [10]
.
This campaign
aims to accomplish the vision of a “Clean India” by 2 October 2019, the 150thbirthday
of Mahatma Gandhi. It is expected to cost over Rs. 62,000 crore (US $9.7
billion). Fund sharing between the Central Government and the State Government
and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) is 75%:25% (90%:10% for North Eastern and special
category states). The campaign has been described as “beyond politics” and
“inspired by patriotism”.
3.1. Swachh
Bharat/Clean India Run
On 2 October
2014 a Swachh Bharat Run was organized at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. As per the
announcement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan around 1500 people participated and
the event was flagged off by President Pranab Mukherjee. Participants in the
run included officers and their families.
3.2. Swachh
Bharat/Clean India Apps
To support the
mission using mobile technologies Appdance sucks developers came up with ideas.
The Times of India published an article on how “Desi companies beat Facebook in
‘Swachh’ apps race”. It seems like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg may have reach
out to help the government create a “Swachh Bharat” or “Clean India” app but
local talents had already been ready with their apps and beat him. One of among
these apps is “I Clean India―Swachh Bharat” on android play store, by a
Delhi-based startup Social Cops. This app has an operational linkage with the
Bangalore municipal corporation. These can then be used to invite Facebook
friends or Twitter contacts through the app (Arora. K. October, 2014. Times of
India) [11] .
The Swachha
Bharat campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Gandhi Jayanti.
Since then many eminent personalities like Salman Khan, Anil Ambani, and Omar
Abdullah have taken up the task and many have posted pictures of themselves
cleaning up their neighborhoods. (india.gov.in) [12]
.
3.3. Real-Time
Monitoring
The toilets
constructed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be monitor nationwide by
government with a real-time monitoring system. This has already created an
awareness among people by the government of India through a quite good
advertisements. Moreover, this system will help government aims to attain a
100% open defecation free India by 2019.
The Indo Nepal
Doctors Association has launched Swachh Bharat Nepal on 3 January 2015 after
getting inspired from the Prime Minister of India. Swasth Bharat Nepal Abhiyan
was launched at the Indo-Nepali border region of Sunauli-Belihiya, which is the
entry to the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini, Nepal.
4. Cleaning
Market
To create a
favorable market dynamics even in the cleaning industry the best way is through
innovations. Although the Indian cleaning market is growing, which will affects
the innovations and trends internationally, aiming the specific necessities of
this unique growing market. The 25th ISSA Interclean show at
Amsterdam attracts around 29,325 professionals visiting from about 130
countries and 696 companies exhibiting from across the globe. More than 184
products launched at the Show highlighted the important aspects of cleaning
requirement and solution in given circumstances.
The most
important aspects of international companies looking at this market are
firstly, the overall growth in the country leading to rise in cleaning
opportunities and secondly, the economic slowdown pushing Western countries to
look at alternative growing markets like India, China and Russia. It was about
80% of the exhibitors were interested in either considering at
entering/exploring the Indian market or have already apportioned distributors
in India. The Indian market is flexible at the present time by giving priority
to cleaning. With the time as the cleaning projects going to increase, the
demand for general cleaning products, specific solutions and consumption
volumes are definitely going to rise.
But the main
question at the present time is that whether the Indian cleaning industry be
able to encounter these requirements with the existing infrastructure and
technology. Another question is whether the international community hurry to
fill the gap. Is there any opportunity for India to witness technology
transfer, increased distributorship, or direct international presence in the
coming years? However, there are obvious challenges in the developing trend.
The one among which is the price conscious Indian consumer market. Even though,
considering the price challenge there are manufacturers from Germany, Spain and
even the UK who have taken up the challenge and are redesigning/customizing products
to fit the price factor. At the same time, there are manufacturers, from Italy,
USA in particular, who are skeptical and cautious of their dealings in India
owing to price mismatch.
On the other
hand, the other challenges faced by the international market is a lack of
awareness and knowledge about cleaning technology among the Indian consumers.
In the present situation where cleaning is not count among the top main concern
or is not exclusively budgeted by Indian companies. So, moving toward the latest
cleaning technology and investment on cleaning is limited.
Nonetheless, the
demand for cleaning over the past few years has been steady, the growth in the
Indian cleaning industry has been unpredictable. As a result of which Indian
companies were not in the favor of international tie-ups introduced during this
period. Keeping the dealings in suspension is also having a detrimental effect
on manufacturers who are eagerly awaiting confirmation from prospective Indian
companies. The companies are from France, UK, Denmark and Spain. USA and the
UK, two of the biggest players in cleaning, that have been concentrating
production and distribution to the local market, are now expanding operations
not only to Europe but also to India, China and the Middle East.
The other
involving tendencies in India are unfavorable to positive growth in the
cleaning industry are eroding margins, unhealthy competition, thieving and
others leading to a nasty circle of payment problem. Innovations in the
cleaning industry have largely focused on providing solutions to suit local
market. Internationally, major players are redesigning products to suit the
specifics of Indian cleaning needs. The best part when concluding, despite
challenges, the cleaning industry as a whole is looking at India as a potential
market and taking intensive steps to grow. As more and more international
companies steps into Indian market, the country is sprouting as a perfect
platform for the cleaning business.
Economy Depends
on Cleanliness
Undoubtedly,
Indian tourism offers a wide array of unique travel destinations, services,
medical aides, and education. Traditionally, India boasts of an ancient culture
that left behind exquisite monuments and temples, archaeological sites and an
heirloom of artefacts. India is also endowed with natural beauties and unique
features right from the beaches to the majestic mountains and hill stations,
from rainforests to scintillating deserts, from bird sanctuaries to natural
reservoirs,―the list is endless. In spite of the beautifully conceptualized
global advertising campaign about Incredible India, India still has a meagre
0.64% of the total tourist arrivals worldwide. It is evident that the
culturally rich central theme “Atithi Devo Bhavah” coupled with historical and
natural resources is unable to make the most of the opportunity created by the
world tourism industry.
According to
UNWTO, over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion
and diversification, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing economic
sectors, with the receipts of International tourism worldwide reaching to US
$1159 billion in 2013. The business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses
that of oil exports or automobiles. Tourism is a high potential industry the
world over and there are several economies which are directly dependent on the
tourism industry.
Tourism in China
has hugely expanded over the last few decades, making China the fourth most
visited country in the world with over 56 million (5.1%) arrivals and a
whopping business of a US $52 billion. China’s tourism strategy depicts a high
sense of discipline and hygiene, and single-minded objective of a great
tourists’ experience. Thailand is also amongst the top-10 tourism destination
in the world. Thailand attributes its success to low unemployment rate (7th lowest
in the world), 90% of population above poverty line, relatively developed
economy and obviously its unique balance of city and nature experiences.
Singapore alone has managed to attract 15.6 million international tourists
bringing in massive receipts of US $18,953 Million in 2013. The critical
success factor in Singapore Tourism is cleanliness, beautiful cityscape and
tourist experiences, and visa policy. India on the other hand, despite its
diversities and vast tourism resources, managed to receive only seven million
tourists (0.64%), which brought home US $18,397 million in 2013. Even with this minuscule share of the world tourism industry, tourism generates 6.6% of
India’s GDP and 32 million Indians are directly employed by this sector.
But, the India
is lagging behind in one very important aspect called, cleanliness. Lack of
adequate sanitation and food safety leads to cross contamination which causes
severe diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports
that between 20% and 50% of international travelers suffer from diarrhea, due
to ingestion of contaminated (mostly fecal) food or water infected with E coli.
India along with other developing nations is burdened with the stigma of causing
diarrhea to travelers, which is ironically called “Delhi-belly”.
India needs to
develop the facilities by revamping public utilities and keeping them clean,
focusing on safe food & water, training cleaning staff and preserving the
environment. This complex task needs to solve one more issue, which is creating
a dignity and quality of life for the cleaning staff and their families.
Training staff repeatedly on standards of cleaning & hygiene and
application of chemicals can be very instrumental in motivating and providing
them dignity. At the face value, this job may appear unreasonably complex.
However, it can be executed at a nominal cost by adopting a partnering
approach, especially between the users and the vendors; for example, between
5-star hotels and manufacturers of commercial cleaning solutions. The latter
can regularly train the cleaning and kitchen staff of hotels with the intention
of sustainability and objective of attain assessments can be utilized to highlight and encourage best performers and set new standards (Clean India:
community led environment action network) [13]
.
5. Conclusions
Moreover, Prime
Minister of India target of complete sanitation in the next five years is
aiming to change situation and behavior of India. A significant investment in
cleanliness, hygiene training, maintenance and human resource linked to Swach
Bharat Abhiyan will certainly support the Incredible India Campaign. Not only
this, it can be a direct influence on the medical tourism, increasing its scope
even further. The days are not too far when we will send off tourists with fond
memories of a cleaner and welcoming India, adorned with cultural heritage,
aesthetic artefact's, rich flora & fauna and natural scenic beauties. The PM
has rightly asserted that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should be a combined effort of
both the Government as well as the people. Everybody is in the hope that the
Swachh Bharat Mission does not become another Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan started by
the previous Government in 1999 with the same mission but was far from a
success.
Trash is closely
connected to every environmental problem we face today, from climate change and
habitat destruction to water pollution and chemical exposure. It’s also
intensely personal and impacts every decision in our daily lives, including
everything from how much money we spend to how much weight we gain. The
storage, collection, transportation, processing, recovery, and disposal of
solid waste results into very difficult task for solid waste management. Only
collection and transportation includes $6 billion a year. Most solid waste is
transported to dumps and landfills; the rest is incinerated. In 1970, studies
on solid waste indicate, as many as 90 percent of the dumps and 75 percent of
the municipal incinerators were considered inadequate, and were major polluters
of air, land, and water.
After looking at
this shocking and horrible truth about waste I have concluded that to change
the country’s trash addiction, we first have to address own trash problem. I
had heard about people in other parts of the world living “trash free,” which
basically means sending nothing to the landfill―ever. I wondered if the same
could be happen in developing nation, in a country where people produce more
trash than anywhere else in the world. The best and amazing parts of following
cleanliness lifestyle are really life changing and motivating for an
individual. It gives you simple life, saves money, supports local business, eat
healthier, preserve planet for future generations, more self-efficient,
sustainability etc.
As an individual
I would suggest everyone to follow the pollution prevention hierarchy and
practice to stay as high as possible in the hierarchy. The best thing which can
do and contribute towards reduction of solid waste is to reduce it first at its
source which we can easily start from our home by following some zero waste technique.
Everyone contributes to national and global pollution and this cannot solved by
governments alone. For their policies to work effectively the actions of the
individual are required. The collective action by individuals would reduce
solid waste generation, water use, and energy use and results into whole
reduction in Pollution around the globe.
Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan should not be a mere re-branding exercise. There is no doubt about the
fact that change begins at home. Every citizen of the country should take it
upon himself to make this campaign a success rather than waiting for the
government to do. Let us also hope that this can change the attitude of the
people towards hygiene and be the change everyone wants to see.
About The
Author:
Aparna Nayak, University
of Idaho, Boise, USA Email: naya6277@vandals.uidaho.edu
Publication
Details:
Copyright © 2015
by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc., URL
This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC-BY).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Citation:
AparnaNayak,
(2015) Clean India. Journal of Geoscience and Environment
Protection,03,133-139. doi: 10.4236/gep.2015.35015
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