During a casual chit chat with a group of friends, we discussed about the impact of Narendra Modi from the time when he took over the position of Prime Minister. Our talks were revolving around Modi’s several innovative steps, one such movement is ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’.

Relating it to Udaipur, we started talking about district administration’s campaign ‘Action Udaipur’ which has a similar objective.

An incident narrated by one of my friend left us thinking on, how effective such campaigns are, whereby the outlook and thoughts of a common citizen has not changed, yet.

While, narrating the incident my friend had experienced, he said, “I was riding my scooter towards Polo Ground-Saheli Marg and all of a sudden an Audi car overtook me. I was looking at the four circle symbol and adoring the car’s beauty. Riding behind it, I thought there must be someone very rich, popular and a respected person driving in it, but at the same instant my thoughts were distracted when a large size, half eaten ice-cream cup was thrown out from that Audi car which hurled towards my scooter.”

“All these cleaning drives and campaigns like Swachh Bharat, Action Udaipur etc. went in vain.” He exclaimed.

Talking about Action Udaipur, I still remember how the campaign started in May 2014 from Mohta Park, a public park situated adjacent to Suchna Kendra. Over a dozen people cleaned the garbage scattered in and around the park and later received praise from both administration and media.

However, after nearly 5 months, the same park is back to its old, poor condition with wastes i.e. plastic bags and food, stray dogs and littering people. Nothing has changed. You can say that the change remained ineffective.

Action Udaipur was started by District Collector Ashutosh Pednekar who is known for his optimistic approach and enthusiasm. Collector had stated that time, “Through Action Udaipur, we want local residents to come forward and clean their neighborhood, public parks etc. It will be more effectual as people who cleaned their surroundings will never litter it.”

Sadly, the campaign which is still spreading and taking contribution of local citizens and students could not really bring a change in the very common people, like the one driving 25 Lakh rupees Audi and those residing or doing their business near Mohta Park.

Our talk ended with a simple conclusion, change comes from heart and then body, followed by action with a sense of duty and responsibility.

We love to keep our belongings spotless and sparkling, but do we really care about our neighbors or our neighborhood, our city, our country? Is it because it’s not OURS, literally? Let’s Think about it.

We behave hypocritically when India shines in U.S through Modi, in Korea through Asian Games or in Mars through Mangalyaan. But when we spit the red waste of paan from our mouth or throw leftover food on the roads, we certainly forget the feeling of “Our India”.

A person like Narendra Modi and Ashutosh Pednekar are examples of best social innovators in Indian Administration, but they need support from citizens to get the true value of their missions and campaigns.