NEW DELHI: As Modi government’s flagship project Swachh Bharat has reached half way mark, an online survey has raised questions on the role of municipal bodies and participation of youth in it. While 75% people say their municipal corporation is not properly engaged in the mission, 58 % of them feel children and youth in their areas are not following Swachch Bharat values.
More than 15,000 people participated in the survey by the Local Circles, the agency which has been submitting reports to the ministry of urban development about the ground situation of Swachch Bharat mission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat initiative on Oct 2, 2014 and the mission will soon complete its half way mark. In an effort to understand the current situation and to figure out what can be done in the remaning two and half years, Local Circles, conducted polls in its Swachh Bharat circle with over 350,000 citizens. The community was launched by Ministry of Urban Development on Oct 9, 2014 in association with LocalCircles and has now become the largest Swachh Bharat Community network.
As per the survey, in which citizens participated from over 250 districts of India with 68% males and 32% females, a high 75% of the citizens believe that their local municipal corporation is not engaged in the Swachh Bharat Mission. Only 16% said their municipal corporation was engaged in the mission while the remaining 9% were unsure.
When asked especially, if children and youth around them were living the Swachh Bharat principles (following civic sense, no littering/defecation in open) in daily life, a majority of 58% people said not with only 34% saying yes. 8% did not have an opinion. In a similar poll 15 months ago, 32% people felt that children and youth were not engaged in the mission thereby showing a significant deterioration.
But, it looks like it is not too late as 87% respondents in a separate question said that they would be happy to participate in making their neighborhood and area better if the central government or local municipal bodies engaged with them even now. This indicates that people do care about making their neighborhood and area cleaner and even if they are engaged now, they are willing to engage in the cause of Swachh Bharat.