Citizen Responsibility

The report on how the passengers availing services of the train in Kashmir leave bogies untidy by littering all kinds of stuff on the floor is off putting, to say the least. In any civilised society public amenities are taken care of like individual assets, if not more. How unfortunate we have still not grown into a responsible citizenry, as our attitude towards public amenities is that of neglect and disregard. Whatever services and amenities any government provides to people come at a cost.

It is the people's money tat goes into building public infrastructure and putting in place different utility services. It is the responsibility of every individual to take care of this infrastructure and avail it in the best possible manner. If our roads, parks, and other public spaces are taken good care of, it is only the people who will be benefitted. But unfortunately we have been, largely speaking, very ungrateful in this regard.

Take the case of government hospitals. Whatever the inadequacies of our healthcare system, we have a vast network of small and big hospitals. But visit any of them and see how the corridors, wards, washrooms, and even the spaces near intensive care units are made unclean and untidy. Least mindful of the fact that it is finally the people that have to use the facilities, we ourselves damage things and then complain of the absence of amenities.

Similarly, all other public spaces are meant for bringing ease to people. But we hardly realise the importance of such spaces. In the developed parts of the world one cannot imagine damaging any public utility structure; one cannot think of littering. There the roads, pavements, parks and other slots are as clean as our personal compounds, if not more. It is incumbent on us as a society to educate our people to act responsibly in this regard, and consider the government infrastructure as ultimately owned by people.

The relevant government agencies also need to undertake awareness campaigns to correct public attitude in this regard. We also need to integrate these campaigns with our education system so that the younger generation is adequately informed about the importance of being a responsible citizen.