Need to strengthen basic communication on Swatch Bharat Abhiyan

I feel communication campaign and visibility of Swatch Bharat Abhiyan is not that effective. In fact I have not seen any messages around besides seeing people brooming in pictures. Swatch Bharat does not mean just brooming on roads. In all promotional events led by political hot shots or film stars, what I could always see is their photo holding a broom. I feel it is much more than brooming that a common man can do to make Swatch Bharat Abhiyan successful.

At the outset the communication campaign should deliver strong messages and increases visibility through various mediums, for example ads, posters, hoardings, wall paintings etc. This will make people more aware about how to keep the surroundings clean. It should not be a one day event. In our day to day life one needs to adopt the basic practice of using dustbins and not throwing the waste like plastics, wrapers, empty bottles or any other waste on roads and streets (around the house); not spitting and peeing on roads/road sides etc. I strongly feel that the whole communication campaign should be around these basic mannerism. Messages on penalizing the defaulters may help. The way traffic police department have increased the penalty for breaking traffic rules, a heavy penalty like that will make people think twice before they spit on road. All hoardings, posters, advertisements should be communicating these very clearly. Oddly I have not seen any of these anywhere when we talk about Swatch Bharat Abhiyan, not even much in the newspapers. The way we utilize public media like radio, newspaper, huge hoardings, posters at the back of autorickshaws and many more mediums to communicate about political candidates and promotion of political parties; if we utilize these mediums for Swatch Bharat Abhiyan as well I am sure it will make it successful. Electronic media like radio and TV should be utilized. Clippings/advertisement/jingles should be aired/telecast on all radio channels and TV channels (and not only on National channel). National channel, Delhi Doordarshan where these ads run is mostly seen in rural India, however the major need here is to sensitize urban India. Hence targeting all private channels will be effective.

Celebrity icon can also be very impactful. Some of the public figures has already been nominated to propagate this campaign but still a question mark on what exactly are they doing towards that. Just holing some events and talking about that will help? Few more examples I can think of and cite about brand iconing for campaigns like Amitabh Bacchan for poilo programme – huge success! and Vidya Balan for Hygiene Sanitation programme! These celebrities are readily correlated with the campaigns they are involved in. Something like this should be adopted for Swatch Bharat Abhiyan as well. When people will see messages on roads and everywhere (in the form of pictures, illustrations as well as writing) around how cleanliness can be maintained, it will result in mass effect. It is important for the people who are not able to read, that they see pictures with messages on maintaining cleanliness. Another idea is that there can be volunteers on traffic signals with a placard having messages on cleanliness. Printing of messages at the back of their jackets will increase the visibility. These are very rough scattered ideas. There can be a lot more innovative methods of communicating messages and I am sure our country have that expertise. This is high time to act now with full impact as we aim to accomplish the vision of 'Clean India' by 2019.

I can sense that there is a lot more happening at the back end, some plans on recycling waste and water supplies etc by the government. However a common man's contrbution will start with inculcating basic mannerism.

Apologies for the long post...I could not help! more