I, being not tht rich to afford flights, travelled by train this week.
Waiting for the train, I noticed sthg and so wished to put it into words.
Though the status of railway stations is changing in our country, but it still has to make giant leaps if it has to become world class.
One major contributing factor to it,I feel, that makes a difference can be their cleanliness.I have seen stations abroad, n they are much more cleaner than us.y is it so, n how can we match them?
First of all, its the climate of India, being tropical, tht brings in a lot of dust and filth.Use of plastic also contributes.But the biggest factor is the attitude of people. They consider railway as their property and dont care at all abt the platforms.Who cares abt putting the used glass in the appropriate place, just throw it away newhere.
Same is the case with the people who travel by train, they feel no shame in throwing away filth on the tracks.If we have to have cleaner environment, better stations,tracks and train compartments, this attitude has to change.
Now, it is easier said than done. People cudnt b made to change their mindset in a day or even a month. It has to be a gradual effort, and has to be backed by determined efforts.
Let me list down ways in which I feel this can be achieved, or say approached.
1. Public awareness is a must, u shud hv posters everywhere teaching ppl abt cleanliness. I think Railways has already done tht, but i think the intensity is not there. These posters or messages are few and far between.Flood the place with them, and make ppl read them.
2. There are some category of ppl who cud use dustbins, but coz of lack of it, they are forced to take the easy way out. As in (1), make dustbins throng the station or the compartment, just make people notice them. Now, ppl wud say tht it wud involve more costs.I have a way out. Today when corporates are ready to shell out money on nething n everything, there wud not b a dearth of them for this cause. So, those dustbins cud b sponsored.
3. Make ppl pay fine for making the railways and trains filthy. This fine shud b just above nominal, so tht it hurts those who pay. There shud b drives across stations, and ppl must b made 2 pay for this.I don’t think there wud b many ppl who will repeat the mistake once they pay the hefty fine.
4. I remmber a subject of SUPW at my school level, which happened to be a free period for most.We were required to contribute to the society by planting trees, cleaning parks etc. , but i don’t think it was tht seriously done.I think tht is the case with most of the schools.Govt. cud actually make it mandatory for students to have min. grades in this subject to pass. These students can then be utilized in doing sthg productive. One way I see them useful is in this context.Students cud b given a day off from studies, and can be taken to these stations. They will not only be involved in cleaning them, but more so in educating ppl. It feels bad for elders to learn sthg from kids, and thus it will have an effect.
This initiative has to be kept up for a substantial amount of time, so tht it does make a diff.I cannot say with surety tht these ideas will work, but I think they will definitely play a role for the start.If they are carried out properly, in an organized manner, and kept a tab, they can surely contribute to making a difference.
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