Across India, a silent crisis unfolds daily in our public spaces. Behaviors like littering, spitting, flouting queues, unnecessary honking, encroaching on public areas, and damaging shared property have become so routine they often escape notice. These aren't mere behavioral glitches but deeply embedded patterns passed from one generation to the next.
The Everyday Reality of Civic Neglect
The visuals are painfully familiar to most Indians: a man casually throwing garbage from his car window, a commuter spitting paan from a moving train, a woman stealing blankets from railway compartments, and adults teaching children to urinate on roadsides despite available public toilets. These scenes have become normalized in our collective consciousness.
Kanchan Yadav expresses the frustration many feel: "Just the other day I wanted to stop a man and ask him to show some basic civic sense instead of casually peeing in the open. But somehow, in this country, people seem far more offended by kissing in public than by pissing in public." She adds, "We keep calling our country motherland and talk so proudly about Mother Nature, but do we really have the civic sense to keep this 'mother' clean and safe?"
The statistics are staggering. In just the first three months of this year, the Eastern Railway collected over Rs 32 lakh in fines from people spitting across railway stations in Kolkata alone. This represents just one zone of one railway system in one part of the country, hinting at the massive nationwide scale of the problem.
Root Causes of Civic Apathy
The answer to why we lack civic sense is as layered as the problem itself. Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha observes: "It is a behavioral problem when someone says 'chalta hai' while throwing a wrapper outside their car but the same individual won't do so abroad. Forget America, you will not find litter even in Delhi metro. But you will find the railway station across that metro station dirty."
The Broken Windows Theory perfectly explains India's situation. Proposed in 1982 by Wilson and Kelling, this theory suggests that unrepaired damage signals that more disorder will cost nothing. A clean street invites caution while a dirty one becomes a public dustbin. As Jha notes, "I don't believe littering is part of our DNA as Indians. We are not dirty by design. We work on convenience, we believe in taking shortcuts when no one is watching."
The Scarcity Mindset developed over generations also plays a crucial role. Living in an environment where resources were limited created a deep-rooted belief that if you don't rush, push, grab, or seize, someone else will take your seat. This manifests in pushing into trains before passengers exit, jostling for space in queues, aggressive honking, and breaking traffic rules.
Weak Enforcement and Accountability further compound the problem. In India, rules are often seen as suggestions rather than obligations because breaking them rarely brings consequences. When children see parents bragging about avoiding fines or using jugaad to bypass procedures, they learn that bending rules is not just acceptable but admired.
Social Hierarchies and Infrastructure Challenges
Another difficult truth emerges: civic sense is tied to how we treat people we consider 'lesser.' Many Indians behave respectfully in five-star hotels or airports but act very differently in markets and bus stations. The presence of class, caste, and gender hierarchies distorts our public behavior, from yelling at sanitation workers to ignoring queues when domestic helpers are standing in them.
Ayush Pandey reflects on his childhood experiences: "What I vividly remember from my childhood is travelling in general compartments of trains. Back then, as a four or five-year-old, my mother would sometimes make me urinate out of the train window. At that age, I obviously did not understand the difference between relieving myself in public and using a proper washroom."
He adds, "Civic sense is not just something expected from adults — it is basic courtesy and awareness. Still, we often see grown men urinating in public without hesitation, as if it is their right instead of walking to the nearest restroom."
Even the most civic-minded citizen struggles with inadequate infrastructure: scarce garbage bins, encroached footpaths, dirty public toilets, chaotic traffic systems, and failing drainage systems during monsoons.
The Path to Transformation
Change is possible, as India demonstrated by eradicating diseases like Polio through mass awareness and coordinated action. Civic behavior can be transformed similarly through structured, nationwide efforts involving schools, parents, media, and community institutions.
Schools must treat civic sense not as a textbook chapter but as core learning through daily cleanliness rituals, community outreach programs, traffic rule workshops, waste segregation practices, and compulsory social responsibility modules.
Parents must lead by example by not littering, following queues, treating workers with dignity, obeying traffic rules, and avoiding flexing 'jugaads' in front of children. As Jha emphasizes, "Environment education should not be treated as a subject to score marks. It is a lifestyle choice with clear implications on our lives and culture."
Improvement will manifest in small, visible acts: a driver stopping at zebra crossings, a child refusing to litter, a shopkeeper keeping his storefront clean, neighbors cooperating in waste segregation, and a railway coach remaining clean after a long journey.
India stands as one of the world's largest economies and most influential global powers, yet basics like public cleanliness and traffic discipline lag behind. If we aspire to become a truly developed society, civic sense must be reimagined as moral responsibility, cultural value, national priority, and daily habit. The responsibility lies with all of us—parents, teachers, leaders, citizens—and especially the children who will inherit this country.
