H. N. Das
Among the big cities I have visited, there are two - New York and Beijing - where the majority of the adults, including women, appear to be smoking most of the time. In Beijing there is no statutory warning, either on billboards or in cigarette packets, that smoking is injurious to health. But amazingly, no one throws a cigarette butt in the street nor litters the side walks in either of these cities. Cigarette companies used to advertise in the Times Square of New York which happens to be the most expensive and lucrative advertising site in the world but this now has become a thing of the past.Kolkata also has a large number of people who appear to be smokers. However, the streets are dirty and the drains are clogged with cigarette butts. 'Pan-biri' shops are aplenty not only in the market areas but also in the 'para' lanes. In any Bengali film, smoking appears to be the predominant activity, next only to eating. Here in Guwahati the percentage of smokers appears to be much less today than in our youth - fifty years ago - when a majority of college students used to smoke. But the littering goes on all the same. Unlike New York or Beijing, the city governments have not provided ample roadside bins to throw in the waste materials nor is there any training to motivate the general public that waste materials are properly disposed of. I have chosen this example to bring home the fact that we have failed to inculcate civic sense in our citizens generally, especially the younger generation.
Another example of the lack of civic sense may be that of garbage disposal. We hold big banquets and entertain hundreds of people and then throw the plates and the left over food on the roadside. The plastic plates then float around for days together. The wind blows the litter into the compounds and houses of neighbours. In Guwahati, garbage disposal has become one of the most important problems today. Similar is the problem of cleaning the streets. In Australia, where manpower is short, each house holder is expected to clean and wash the road and footpath in front of his/her house. I was a resident of Adelaide for two and a half years and during this time, my son and I used to enjoy performing this task every morning. It was only for major thoroughfares in the areas containing business, institutional and government buildings that municipal arrangements were made for cleaning the streets.In all major cities of the developed world, garbage compression and disposal is elaborately organized. In the suburbs and countrysides of the United States, Australia, Canada and similar big countries, where land is plentiful, residents are encouraged to burn most of their waste materials in incinerators conveniently placed in corners of their own residential compounds. In advanced countries, solid waste disposal is taken up very seriously in order to eliminate any possibility of pollution and spread of disease.
Mahatma Gandhi used to lay great stress on sanitary latrines and proper disposal of human and animal excreta. He had even prescribed alternative uses for such waste. Today we seem to have forgotten the urgency of such action in India. However, in Mumbai and a few other big cities, some attempts have been made to set up Sulabh latrines which are easily accessible to the poor. These may not compare with the public conveniences of the developed countries but nevertheless, these attempts do avoid public nuisances.It is true that poverty, corruption and inefficiency often prevent strict adherence to some of the rules but cases of intentional avoidance and deliberate breaking of rules are also many. There is a general impression that we Indians excel in breaking rules, or avoiding them altogether. For example, if there is a 'No Entry' sign for traffic regulation on a particular road, we still take our cars that way, break the rule, and boast about it. We avoid the cardinal rule of walking on the left side of footpaths. If this is pointed out, a prompt excuse would be that most of these footpaths have holes and are encroached by hawkers. It is also possible that sometimes we do not know the rules and since the elders are not aware, how can they teach the children how to behave in public? It is also the school's responsibility to inculcate such values in young children but our educational system is rather bookish and lacks the essential training of teaching children on how to grow up as good citizens.
In spite of constant hammering by the media, concerned seniors and intellectuals, not much seems to have been done by those at the helm of affairs. It has to be emphasized that different aspects of our ‘Civic Life’ needs to be highlighted in our school curriculum so that children imbibe the ethics and learn to follow the rules of good civic behaviour while growing up. Colleges can organize lectures, seminar and workshops on the duties and responsibilties of a good citizen.Finally, as rightly remarked by Ataur Rahman, former Assam Inspector General of Police and one time Member of Parliament, "Habit forms character, character forms society, society forms a nation".
We have to become a nation duly respected all over the world. We have to improve our image. And we can achieve this by improving our civic behaviour and performing our responsibilities scrupulously. Rahman has done very well by bringing together all his experience and learning on the subject in one place in his excellent and useful book entitled 'Civic Virtues by the Rule of Law - Improving Mindset.' In its eleven well organized chapters he has thoroughly explained almost everything about civic behaviour and knowledge on human rights as well as the rules and the statutory provisions in respect of these matters. The book, along with it's drawings and pictures, will be useful in teaching young people.Economic growth and higher income alone cannot take the country towards progress. There has to be a simultaneous social change in respect of our cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation and a general improvement in the way we live. It is futile to criticize or sulk. We have to start working towards an improvement of our conduct and behaviour together.
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