Cleaning up India: The Ugly Indian
What do you call a group of anonymous citizens who come together in a city and clean up dirty streets by themselves?
They are called The Ugly Indians.
"Want to change the world? Start with your own street," believe The Ugly Indians.
Who is the Ugly Indian
They are a group of people who believe that together, they can make their city a cleaner place – and they set out to achieve just that.
Footpaths with litter strewn on them, open dumpyards, etc. are literally washed clean with the help of citizens and municipality staff; at times, even passersbys join in to help. The result - clean streets with manicured lawns make way for what was previously a heap of filth. Hand-painted walls with pretty designs replace the foul stench of the past. People, both young and old, literally lend a hand in these clean-up drives.
The group refuses to depend and blame civic bodies and maintain that people need to take responsibility for the cleanliness and maintenance of their localities.
Watch how they transformed a locale in Bangalore with their motto: "Kaam Chalu – Mooh Bandh!"
How The Ugly Indians came together
Their clean up drives are an inspiration to many, and TUI is an offshoot of Whitefield rising, We Care for Malleswaram etc. and other such local civic communities engaged in cleaning up their neighbourhood. Based on the success of TUI in Bangalore, Ludhiana and Bhopal have also begun their own citizen's clean up drives, as can be seen on The Ugly Indian Facebook page. They have already cleaned up well over a 100 spots in Bangalore.
- 1.It sustains in the public street for at least 90 days.
- 2.Is accomplished without supervision.
- 3.Is low-cost (or involves no expenditure), easy to implement and replicate.
- 4.Positively impacts the behaviour and attitudes of all concerned.
- 5.Creates minimal change in the daily actions of everyone concerned (nobody should lose a job, lose a source of income, or get seriously inconvenienced – because it takes only one Ugly Indian to undo the good work of a hundred others).
Power of the Common Man
If a voluntary group of citizens can come together and help beautify and clean cities, imagine what the Power of 49 can do - 49% of the country’s voter base can get together and help clean up the system!
Get together. Get aware. Make an informed choice.
Push the Pin
Come forward and do your bit - Push the Pin on bad roads, unclean public toilets and other sanitation and infrastructural concerns in your neighbourhoods here.
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