This refers to the editorial "Toilet-training India" (October 2). It is painful to admit that ours is a culture that pays scant respect to the concept of cleanliness. As such, it cannot be reformed by employing ministers and elected representatives to take up cleaning just for a day. The value of cleanliness needs to be inculcated right from childhood. Society as a whole, including adults at home and in the neighbourhood as also teachers at school, has an important role in this regard. Non-governmental organisations should take the responsibility of making interesting and creative films that educate people.
Here is another suggestion in the wider context of public nuisance of which the dirtying and littering is but one part. The government should list the various kinds of acts that constitute public nuisance - such as littering, spitting, defecating, even blowing the car horn loudly and so on. The government can think of using the army of unemployed people as nuisance detectors. They can be authorised to nab and fine nuisance creators on the spot.
Kishor Kulkarni Mumbai
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