Swachh Bharat can be achieved only with a change in the Indian Citizen's Attitude

While the Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat program has done much for the country and is being touted as a success, a real Swachh Bharat can only be achieved by the Indian citizens changing their attitude.

The Japanese cleaning up the football stadiums in Moscow after their World Cup match is a model and example of how far the Indian mentality to cleanliness needs to go. While the whole world was praise for the Japanese, one hasn't seen much of Indian admiration for the exemplary attitude shown by the Japanese at the World Cup. Social Media was filled with admiration for the Japanese even from the Western nations.

One recent example of how even wealthy Indian citizens who drive luxury cars do not have a conscience regarding the country's cleanliness was Virat Kohli's tweet on how Anushka Sharma pulled up a man who was littering the road.

These two separate incidents of the Japanese cleaning the football stadium and a wealthy Indian littering the Indian roads is a stark contrast of how far the Indian mentality will have to travel to make India a clean country. The most surprising thing is that even Senegal which is a very small and much less developed economy compared to India also waited to clean the football stadium after their match. This is truly commendable. Both are great example of heightened awareness of citizens towards cleanliness.

Open defecation is but only one aspect of a clean India. If infrastructure was the problem the government has done its best to provide that infrastrucure as the reports from the Swachh Bharat Mission show in their report cards.

But the real problem is the mentality of the citizens. If citizens don't want a clean litter free, defecation free environment and country, something that they can be proud of, nothing the government does can actually help.

Not even using Amitabh Bachan in communication who is most respected senior celebrity can change mental attitudes to cleanliness. So hardened are our attitudes.

Real cleanliness for India can come only with a heightened self-awareness from every citizen of wanting to live in clean litter-free, defecation free country. A country that all Indians can be proud of.

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