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Why CHIPIN?
How much dependent are we on servants and cleaners,
becomes evident when the NRIs come to live in a western country. In
India it may be against the status symbol to clean your own
bathrooms and house. Some house wives may do it, yet men will
hardly cleanup their own spills.
The same habit persists when people eat food and
‘paan masala’ etc. and throw the wrapper and packing materials out,
on the streets. They then blame the government for not getting it
cleaned.
For a population of 1 billion, no government can
employ enough cleaners, unless the population stops dirtying the
country and participates (CHIPIN) in it.
Some of this is based on our 5000 year old tradition
where a section of community is expected to be the cleaners. We
need to educate the public that they must change this mentality
because the surrounding filth is affecting their own family’s
health. Repeated diarrhea and worms in the tummy prevents children
from developing fully. A clear example is the fact that the children
of NRIs who are born and brought up in the west are usually taller
than their cousins ( same genes) living in India. WHO reports that
48% of Indian children under the age of 5 years are under developed.
Most middles and upper class people in India live in
a myth that the diseases caused by poor sanitation are localized to
poor people. We need to tell them that the mosquitos and flies born
in the slums travel long distances and cause diseases in all. Filth
also permeates through the ground water and comes out in the boring
water, supplying rich households. Diarrhea and worms in the rich
people has the same origin as the poor people.
The old slogans “ Keep your city clean and
beautiful”, is very impersonal and does not work. Public will only
care, when they know that the surrounding filth is affecting their
own families. |
