SBM ambassador
THE ENDURING SUCCESS of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has reconfirmed an important aspect about campaigns of common public interest – that a positive change in habits is not only an instrument of behavioural reform; it can also be a transforming cultural change. A good habit eventually becomes a customary practice which is then proudly carried forward by successive generations.
One such good habit is the visible commitment to cleanliness achieved by the nationwide Mission. Values are not always those which are associated with skills and virtues; many are also achieved by a common cause, as has been illustrated by SBM. The Mission is not so much a political reform as it is a public cause for everyone’s health – a cause of the people, for the people, and by the people. The ordeals and tolls of epidemics are not unknown to most parts of India – like the outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, plague, and many more. It is an honour and privilege to be among those who have wholeheartedly embraced this Mission. There is a pride in raising one’s voice in support of a cause which benefits all.
If anyone had suggested to Mahatma Gandhi that the idea of a Swachh Bharat would be a national rage almost a hundred years after his hope, he might perhaps have brushed it aside. But seeing the strides the Mission has made in the past five years, I am certain that if Bapu was with us today, he would have been both surprised and delighted.
Even a few years ago, a movement like SBM may have seemed like a lost cause. The country appeared to be too vast and broken to come together for a common social cause, hardly a place for celebrating the unity of a collective purpose. There were other more exigent miseries to overcome, such as famines, poverty, epidemics and communal disharmony. Yet, now, over seventy years after Independence, the voice of the whole nation has surfaced in unison to support the cause of a Swachh Bharat.
When he addressed the Indian diaspora at Madison Square in New York a month after his landmark announcement for a Swachh Bharat in August 2014, it became clear to resident and non-resident Indians alike that the Mission was an important part of the Prime Minister’s vision for the country. And the combined reaction was: ‘Yes, we must do this!’
Swachh tann, swachh mann,
Swachh Bharat, mera parichay!
The spontaneous approval and cooperation of the people for SBM will rank among the most unifying events of post-Independence India.
The most inspiring volunteers in the Mission have been the children of schools who actually practise what is preached. The annual day-long ‘cleanathon’ on 2 October every year has been a revelation in this process. Children of various schools across the country appear on the screen and demonstrate their belief in this Mission with applications of science and technology for cleanliness. If this is an indication, SBM will only grow from strength to strength from here.
Cleaning one beach and a hospital or a patch of forest might only be a symbolic gesture. But cleaning every street and field in every corner of a vast subcontinent is an enormous task. Every citizen who makes it happen deserves to be honoured.
For instance, in a small pilgrimage town, a pick-up truck drives slowly through a lane every morning, ringing a bell. The residents come out of their houses promptly, and put the garbage in the back of the truck. The lane is spotless.
Where there is a toilet in every house of a remote hamlet, men and women do not go into the fields for defecation. The fields do not smell like cesspits any more. The environment is gradually recovering its pristine state as intended by nature.
This is apart from the benefits of health and hygiene. Closed toilets prevent the inception and spread of waterborne and airborne diseases which destroy the ecosystem.
In this sense, SBM is also preserving the quality of the Earth. Open defecation causes irreparable damage to nature, which provides for all. It does not take long for a healthy, productive soil to turn into lifeless sand in an arid desert. In the process of changing habits for the wider objective of saving the ecosystems, the concept of Darwaza Band is a good habit for the health of both the people and the environment.
To this end, the dissemination of the vision and purpose of the Mission was only a first step. SBM did not ask if cleanliness was required. It did not ask who was going to do it. It did not order. It did not coerce anyone. It just made everyone aware that the Mission was on. Everyone was invited. And everyone joined.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to clean the whole nation was not his alone. It was the silent voice of the entire nation. Everyone, from the remotest hamlets in the Himalayas to the wet coasts of Kerala, heard it loud and clear.
Credit is also due to traditional media and social media for taking the Mission across the nation – and making sure that no one is left out. SBM has become a people’s movement by virtue of its inherent personal appeal. Everyone went from ‘mere dus gaz’ to ‘mera desh’ in one giant leap.
The private and public enterprises which put their might behind the cause, investing efforts, materials, machinery and money without claiming additional perks, deserve recognition as well. This sense of belonging alone can make such an extensive Mission possible and worthwhile.
This jan andolan – the people’s movement – has swelled in both size and scope since the launch of the Mission.
Long ago, when Mahatma Gandhi’s cry for freedom reached every nook and corner of the subcontinent, the nation rose in resistance.
Today, once again, the nation has risen when the aspiration of a Swachh Bharat has been felt by everyone.
Once again, people have accepted inconvenience for a good cause.
Once again, a humanity of more than a billion people has joined hands.
Once again, each person is assured that they are not alone in their love for nature; a whole nation is with them.
The dignity and prosperity of a nation is founded in such unifying missions. May the Swachh Bharat Mission be the beginning of greater causes of transformation, integrity and higher ideals.