Are we an Unclean Nation!

There is something about Republic Day, we get up with the sounds of patriotic songs like ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke logon’ or ‘Ye jo des hai tera’ playing and they generate a strong patriotic fervour. Today we celebrated the 75th Republic Day and the images of the Republic Day parade in Delhi, or that unfurling of the National Flag in our society are still fresh in my memory.

We have come a long way from where we began, with most countries giving us a half-hearted chance to survive in the 1950s to now having a clear shot at becoming the second-largest economy by 2075. We are already the fifth largest economy and no one doubts our stature or the ‘India growth story’.

But we also are a nation of contradictions. It is said that whatever you say about India, equal and opposite is also true and my bubble of a developed India gets a reality check whenever I visit a public place. It can be a struggle to locate toilets and even if you do so, it would be rare to find one that is usable and clean. In most places, their stench attracts attention from long distances and in others, they won't have water, or the other users before would have left visual nightmares.

It is not easy to ensure the availability of public toilets. It is even more difficult to ensure a supply of running water and keep them clean. I can tell you with experience that the efficiency of an organisation can be gauged not by how swanky or imposing its building is, but if the toilets are clean.

The objective of this article is not to lament this lack of public convenience, but to understand why cracking this code is so complicated. Why can't a nation that conducts Chandrayaan missions and aspires to be a paragon in all emerging technologies find it so difficult to make available this clean public utility? The problem goes way beyond the allocation of funds for toilet construction and everything starting from governance failures to unresponsive markets comes in play.

Like everything else, many believe the responsibility primarily lies with the Government, and they have a point. What is the use of paying income/property taxes if this much cannot be assured? Why can't the government pump in money to construct toilets and then ensure that they remain clean? We gloss over the fact that not long ago, a big percentage of Indians openly defecated. We have come a long way under the Swachh Bharat mission and more than ten crore toilets were constructed by the government. Our Prime Minister has been a big votary of Swachh Bharat and probably the biggest icon of cleanliness post-Mahatma Gandhi.

But despite that, visit any tourist attraction or any religious place and one will get into the strength training of bladders. The scenario is not very different in markets or any other place frequented by the public. When we Indians find it appalling, I wonder what impression foreigners carry back to their countries. While signs of men easing themselves behind the bushes and drains are common, this becomes exacting for womenfolk who cannot be so shameless.

The concept of pay and use ‘Sulabh Shauchalaya’ cannot be discounted. In many tourist places, they do a decent job but I believe their number is still inadequate. Also, they provide bare minimum facilities and we may need more.

I am a believer in market forces and the strength of the invisible hand. But the private sector enters a field only if there are the right incentives. Can budding entrepreneurs solve this? We have more than a hundred startup unicorns today and there is no dearth of entrepreneurial talent in our country. Go to the remotest corners of India and there are OYO rooms and Airbnb. Can there be similar models for public conveniences? The economies of scale may not work out and here comes the role of the Government that can bridge the viability gap for providing this service.

The preferred solution today is that one make a stop at restaurants/eateries. OYOs/Airbnbs maintain minimum service parameters and one can rate/comment about their utilities. Can we emulate the same mechanism to indicate if the toilet in the upcoming restaurant stop would be clean? Visit some Dhabas near Murthal, outside Delhi, and one cannot but be impressed by how they maintain a good number of clean public toilets. I believe this also is a part of their business model and helps them draw crowds.

Someone once told me that any restaurant/shop is bound to allow any visitor to use the toilet on its premises. I am not sure that such a provision exists, and if it does it is enforceable. On the contrary, we may find many restaurants/establishments keeping their toilets under lock and key. There is a role of government regulation on this, at least in advising if not mandating this. What arrangement should any public place including temples/mosques have for maintaining an adequate number of clean toilets?

Large corporations today spend huge amounts of money on brand building. No company can ignore ESG strategy and they mandatorily spend a significant amount on CSR activities. I recall going on a pilgrimage/trek to a Uttarakhand temple and struggling to locate a toilet. Can these corporations adopt such stretches and maintain and demonstrate how serious they are about their corporate social responsibility? Can we find the GPS coordinates of the nearest toilet available on Google Maps?

The problem goes way beyond affordability and the ability to pay for this convenience. I believe that as a society, we are embarrassed to talk about it. It is not cool to discuss that in any social/religious/patriotic events, people may need to relieve themselves. We are coy in demanding or discussing this or even seeking directions from strangers about the location of the nearest toilet. Many of us lack toilet manners and the ability to leave the seat clean for the next user.

The earlier we begin, the better it is and we should have chapters in textbooks for children teaching about clean toilet manners and maintaining hygiene. Leave aside teaching these manners, rarely do schools maintain clean, odourless toilets and teachers often keep theirs under lock and key. Not only children, even many of us need sensitisation on this.

An ultimate success of public policy would be if the government, private and common people join hands to ensure the availability of clean toilets. Do we imagine an India where we can knock on a random stranger's door and request to use the toilet? This sounds utopian I agree, but I do believe as we try to emerge as a developed nation, we have to find answers. Today’s India may be like a snake with its head and tail at different places but if we dream of a developed country, all of us must join hands to ensure the availability of clean toilets.

#RepublicDay #SwachhBharat #PublicConvenience #DevelopedIndia