Gandhiji firmly held that “Cleanliness is next to godliness” raising the issue of cleanliness to the sphere of spirituality. This phrase also refers to the cleanliness of body, mind, and soul. The purity of thought automatically translates to the efforts one makes to maintain cleanliness.

The World Bank links one in ten deaths in India to poor sanitation. 44 million children under five have stunted growth, and every year over 3 million die from diarrheal disease. This data highlights the necessity for cleanliness in India.

Various aspects of cleanliness

Cleanliness refers to the state or quality of being clean. It is both the abstract state of being clean and the habit of achieving and maintaining that state. The concept of cleanliness differs from purity, which is a physical, moral, or ritual state of freedom from pollutants.

Cleanliness is linked  with proper hygiene. Since the germ theory of disease, cleanliness has come to mean an effort to remove germs and other hazardous materials to stay healthy and avoid diseases.  Personal hygiene are the applications that people perform, to protect their health and keep their life healthy. Washing is one way of achieving physical cleanliness, usually with water and often some kind of soap or detergent.

Another aspect of cleanliness is cleanliness of surroundings. A clean environment is one that is void of any form of pollution and its effects. A clean environment reduces pollution, preserves our biosphere, protects endangered species, and also helps preserve the earth’s natural resources.

Importance of cleanliness

80% of contagious diseases are transmitted by touch.   Every day we are exposed to millions of germs, viruses, bacteria, and more and it is each of our responsibilities to maintain proper personal and body hygiene so that we can limit our exposure, thus protecting our health and the health of others.

In this age, the value of getting a clean environment because of growing communication, trade, and transport is widespread. Nobody can deny the advantages of having a sterile atmosphere. Whether in the home, offices, business, and public areas, everybody must get knowledgeable about the nutritious environmental advantages. Its significance has been more acknowledged as surroundings began to be polluted because of industrialization in the second half of the 20th century. A fresh and healthy environment is vital for conducting business, creating wealth, and most significantly for human presence.

On any given day, more than 300 million women worldwide are menstruating. Lack of menstrual hygiene can pose serious health risks, like reproductive and urinary tract infections which can result in future infertility and birth complications. So, cleanliness is very important for menstruating women.

According to UNICEF, 3,000 children die every day, worldwide due to contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation. Many poverty related diseases such as diarrhea acquire and spread as a result of inadequate access to clean drinking water. Lack of cleanliness also leads to diseases like malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS etc.

With the onset of COVID -19, personal hygiene has become more important. the virus is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person through coughing and sneezing, and touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. Taking necessary precautionary measures will help us to fight the deadly virus. Precautionary measures such as use of masks, maintaining social distance norms and sanitizing hands should be strictly followed.

Challenges

As of 2020, 2.3 billion people lacked basic hygiene services (handwashing facility with soap and water), and 1.6 billion people had access to handwashing facilities that lacked water or soap. Worldwide, 70% of people used basic hygiene services in 2020. Having no access to basic handwashing facilities is a large health and environmental problem – particularly for the poorest in the world. 

Solid Waste Management is another burning issue. These dumping grounds are full to their capacity. As they get fire frequently, people suffer from Air Pollution.

According to UNICEF 2015 half of the schools lack adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services crucial to enable girls and female teachers to manage menstruation in India. Many studies argue that inadequate sanitary facilities affect girls’ experiences at school, causing them to miss classes during their menstruation or even drop out.

Out of a total of nearly 40 crore menstruating women in India, less than 20% use sanitary pads. In urban areas, this number only goes up to 52%. This indicates that nearly half of even urban-based women use unhygienic methods for period protection, making them vulnerable to health issues.

Due to the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), all environment-related taxes have been withdrawn. The National Clean Energy Fund, financed through a cess on coal consumption, has been diverted to compensate states for losses incurred due to GST. The water cess, which charged industries for water consumption, was withdrawn. The water cess was the major source of funds for the state pollution control boards to monitor and control pollution. In the budget there is no mention of how these cesses would be replaced or compensated. 

Steps taken by the Government

The Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission to ensure cleanliness. More than 100 million individual household level toilets have been constructed in rural areas, and 6 million household toilets in urban areas. City Governments have collaborated with Fire Departments and used fire-tenders, water wash pumps, etc., to sanitize public places. However, more is needed to be done.

Solutions

At a personal level, one must follow sanitary hygiene with discipline. Wash your hands with soap after using the toilet and before touching any food items.

If centralizing water treatment is not efficient or appropriate, families in need will be given individual filters (ceramic, by ultrafiltration, or by activated charcoal) or disinfection products (chlorinated products).

Excrement treatment can be carried out using one or a series of techniques, including anaerobic baffled reactors, lagoons, sedimentation and thickening ponds, drying beds, composting, anaerobic biogas reactors, disinfection, etc.

Solid waste should be managed by using landfill and controlled incineration, and sometimes recycling if conditions allow.

It is imperative that people who do not have access to basic hygiene services  are issued with all necessary day-to-day items required for personal hygiene, such as water containers (buckets), washing and cleaning soap, and menstrual hygiene products for women.

Conclusion

Cleanliness is crucial and should be practiced in our day-to-day life. If we keep ourselves clean, then it will be helpful in nation-building exercise. Therefore, Cleanliness is the responsibility of every citizen for a peaceful and healthy living.

Author
Arijeeta Shrivastava