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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Giving | A clean sweep
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Giving | A clean sweep

Just wielding the broom once a year won't do it. See how these 18 organizations are trying every trick in the book to drive away the dirt.

Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Broom with a view

When we decided to focus on sanitation and cleanliness for our annual Giving issue, there were a few naysayers who thought Diwali is not the ideal time to be talking about this. Besides, so much has been written about toilets and brooms in the last fortnight.

We believe that cleaning up India is not restricted to just picking up the broom every once in a while, and sweeping the rubbish out of sight, under the “carpet". Cleaning up India also cannot be restricted to curtailing open defecation by just building toilets. You have to tell people why they must move from the open skies to a toilet—many of which are cramped, lack water, stink and, of course, has the user worrying about what will happen once the pit, which collects the faecal matter, fills up.

If the larger aim behind cleaning India is to improve the health and living conditions of our people, we have to think about waste, of all kinds, and where it goes. Will it damage our environment and overload our landfills? How can we get clean, drinking water, another basic necessity, to the people in a country where the water table is rapidly deteriorating and the rivers are carrying much of our filth?

Apart from these questions, it was knowing that girls and women are the most affected by the lack of toilets and proper access to products that promote menstrual hygiene, which also prompted us to explore the idea of giving in the context of sanitation and cleanliness. Not only do young girls drop out of school because of the above issues, many also spend a large part of their day collecting and ferrying drinking water. Besides, the waste management industry employs a large number of women who work as garbage collectors and segregators and must fight for proper pay, medical facilities and their safety.

As you read the stories of not-for-profits and social start-ups in this field, the data in each story will tell you how large the problem is and also indicate that there is no dearth of workable solutions—but there is a caveat. Without the will of the people to participate in this process of change on a regular basis and, most importantly, without commitment from government agencies, this change is somewhat an impossibility. Unless local agencies get into the habit of paying dues, looking after sanitation workers and run adequate programmes to foster private-public partnership, not much will change on the ground.

So this Diwali as you spring clean your house, remember that your country needs a bigger broom, a larger bin, a smarter toilet and a dedicated you to resolve this crisis.

But this does not mean you don’t shop for new things to improve your home, your wardrobe, your gadget collection or your kitchen and dining room. Look through our Gifting ideas and also get inspired by our celebrity shoppers who shared their secrets of finding the most beautiful things in town.

Seema Chowdhry

Issue editor

Also Read

SWaCH: Redeeming rubbish

ARGHYAM | Toilets and the Indian man

Sparc: A nucleus for transformation

Waste Warriors: Waging a war against waste

South Asia Forum for Environment: Two in one

Vatavaran: A broom that knows the corners

Sana: Pipe dream comes true

South Asia Pure Water Initiative: Let nature purify nature

Samagra: Use the loo, get a reward

Safai Sena: Out of the trash

Rohini Nilekani: Why we must measure the true cost of sanitation

Menstrupedia: Give me red

Garbage Free India: The unclean cleaners colony

Eram Scientific: The telemetric toilet

Ekam Eco Solutions: Water not required

Give the girls a chance

Daily Dump: Peel power

Consortium for Dewats Dissemination Society: After the flush

Banka Bioloo | Where bacteria rules

Eco Femme | Cut from a different cloth

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Published: 18 Oct 2014, 12:48 AM IST
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