Swachch Bharat dies predictable death

As we approach the first anniversary of the launch of lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo one of the most ambitious and if I may add audacious initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi it would be in order to assess how successful it has been both as a message as well as a mission Since lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo was launched on Gandhi Jayanti last year such an assessment is all the more needed because the Mahatma would want it doneBy symbolically sweeping a street on October 2 Modi triggered a mammoth rush of popular participation Old and young men and women students and workers peons and officers stepped forward to clean the spaces outside their homes schools colleges and offices For the first time swachchata became the subject of popular discourse PicAFPFirst a quick recall Modirsquos fetish for cleanliness is wellknown As Chief Minister of Gujarat he made cleanliness or swachchata one of the top priorities of his government Sabarmati Gandhirsquos river reduced to an open festering drain was revived and a remarkable riverfront created Urban clusters were made filthfree And the glimmering yet sombre new secretariat in Gandhinagar became the mascot of shining GujaratIn his personal life too Modi has practised what he preached to others His severely austere official residence in Gandhinagar was spotlessly clean Before that the oneroom outhouse in Lutyensrsquo Delhi where he lived as a BJP general secretary was a model of spartan cleanliness The Prime Ministerrsquos official residence at Race Course Road may be lacking in austerity and is far from being spartan but Modi has made it seem antiseptic along with its sprawling premisesSoon after taking charge as Prime Minister Modi instructed the PMO and all ministries to spruce up their offices Old files and broken furniture gathering dust had to go Clean and effective governance was not possible from cluttered and dysfunctional workplaces With great enthusiasm the bureaucracy complied From that was born the lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo if Government of India could do it so could IndiaBy symbolically sweeping a street on October 2 Modi triggered a mammoth rush of popular participation Old and young men and women students and workers peons and officers stepped forward to clean the spaces outside their homes schools colleges and offices For the first time swachchata became the subject of popular discourseMedia expectedly focussed on politicians and their groupies looking for a photo opportunity but that did not detract from the overwhelming support for lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo Lazy municipality workers were shamed into doing what they are paid for People rebuked those seen littering public spacesA couple of months after the launch of the national cleanliness mission my wife and I drove to Chambal on the margins of western Uttar Pradesh We travelled through three crowded cities and were struck by the absence of garbage At a place where we stopped for chai the chaiwallah proudly told us how the Prime Ministerrsquos message had galvanised the massesThat was then The enthusiasm has disappeared The idea of a clean India no longer figures in public discourse Schools which had aggressively joined the campaign have all but forgotten their promise to make it part of their curriculum Earlier this week in Mumbai I saw young men and women smartly dressed affluent casually littering the pavements and streetsIn Delhi the nationrsquos capital city mounds of rotting garbage dot open spaces In the inner city areas especially across the river the stench of filth is overpowering as rubbish festers in the monsoon rain Clogged drains and choked sewers expel a nauseating variety of human wasteTruth be told lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo is dead We donrsquot see the film stars sportspersons high society dandies grandiosely appointed lsquoambassadorsrsquo of the mission doing what they were meant to do keep the enthusiasm alive lead from the front The BJPrsquos crores of members are nowhere to be seen flagging the waning response Sadly Modi too has allowed it to drop off the radar of his governmentThat in a nutshell is the invariable tragic end to apolitical initiatives of any government With the news cycle moving on lsquoSwachch Bharat Abhiyanrsquo has died a premature death India is destined to being the caricature it is portrayed as by visiting foreigners Worse Indians are destined to live in a sprawling slum Simply because leadership in our country is a 24hour wonder which waxes and wanes along with the 24hour media cycleCry Gandhi Your message is lost though not for the first timeThe writer is a senior journalist based in the National Capital Region His Twitter handle is KanchanGupta