why don't people clean stuff in india?

julesa

after 6 weeks in india, which i loved, it's still hard not to pick on the strange, illogical stuff.

like why don't they clean stuff? railway stations, carriages, hotels? there's plenty of staff. just try to enter a railway station without being ambushed by an army of guys in those red shirts trying to earn easy money carrying your bags a few metres.

same deal in hotels. they often literally wait outside your room around checkout time to get a tip.

these people could be put to good use, but instead they're allowed to sit around doing nothing to prey on tourists (predominantly).

it's bizarre.

batistuta

Guys with red shirts are Porters not cleaners and hence they dont clean the Railway stations.There are separate people to do the cleaning .I agree they (the railway stations)are dirty though.Waste management is a big problem.

crvlvr

Just to put things in perspective, India has 50 times the population of Australia, crammed into half the area. With a billion plus people in India to dirty things, the population have just given up trying to keep it clean.

mt.kailash

Dirty hotel rooms? You're staying at the wrong places.
When you're checking into a hotel ask to see the room first.If there are footprints all the way up the wall-leave.If the room is untidy or the floor is dirty tell the receptionist/manager you would like the room cleaned NOW.And supervise the boys sent to clean it.If I'm staying at a place for more than a week I usually order my room cleared of furniture washed and swept, unless I'm staying at a hotel where this is done routinely.eg Pearl Palace Jaipur,Schindia Guest House Varanasi,Hotel Buddha Varanasi,Tourist Rest House,Agra. I stayed in these hotels last year paying between Rs300-500. All were squeaky clean.In fact I also inspected the kitchens in all of them - all passed.
When I check into my usual hotel in Delhi the roomboys follow me to my room carrying dusters,brushes,mops,disinfect ant and air freshner. I also keep them busy by sending them to the market to buy some lemons (I make my own nimbu pani), sandalwood soap,and bring my newspaper in the morning (the hotel provides the Express,I read the Hindu.)
There you go-how to keep the roomboys busy.
It works for me.

tribeandnation

I think that's a great question and funny too.

I suppose that that is one of the things that makes the 3rd world the 3rd world. When there is over a billion people, 90% of which are below the world poverty line, they are probably too concerned about getting ahead than anything else.

Yogesh Sarkar

Railway platform I agree could do with some cleaning, but like mt.kailash said, if you are facing that in hotels than you are staying at the wrong place! Also if the cleaning staff is not doing their duty well then dont tip them and let them know why you are not tipping them!

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ranjan154

The point is everyone thinks its not thier job, someelse should be doing that.. then there are some personal hygiene habits also, some people use dustbins (if they find one) and some prefer to just throw outside the justbin.. expecting someone will pick it and put it inside the can..

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capt_mahajan

The Indian 'mixed economy' model failed in many ways. One main reason was that the State ended up owning businesses like the railways, which had overstaffing and low accountability. Thats one reason railway stations etc are not clean.

Another reason is sheer numbers. As an example, the population of Norway is about 4.5 million. The Mumbai local train network carries 6.1 million commuters daily

Another reason is that India is a dusty country. In the north, for example, the house is cleaned and everything dusted in the morning in summer, and by the evening everything has a thin sheen of dust.

Hotels.. well, depends what you pay. I have seen cheap motel rooms in some parts of the world which were too filthy to stay in.

sirensongs

That also means, though, that there are plenty of people available to do the job. I see hundreds of young men standing around all day doing nothing at corners and railway stations. Under-employment is a major issue, but, it seems to be beneath anyone to pick up the garbage, or even to keep a wastebin in their shop (guess that would mean they had garbage IN The shop, instead of OUTside on the road - where it presumably belongs) .

I suppose those young men consider themselves to be of the wrong caste for that work - but there is no shortage of "suitably" casted people, either - and, it seems, they could use the work.

Dust - yes, India has always been dusty and hazy, it's part of the bioregion but has been exacerbated by rampant vehicle emissions and the practice of burning garbage.

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steven_ber

I'd be surprised if over 70% were below the world poverty line.

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Tapestry

The puzzling thing about the dirt and trash in India is that you can't even generalize about the whole country because just look at Kerala, it's so incredibly clean. So any argument positing that it's somehow out of the control of Indians to keep their own surroundings clean simply because there are so many people is contradicted by the cleanliness of some parts of the South. Up here in Delhi we often wonder why even "nice" markets such as Vasant Lok in Vasant Vihar have to be so gross. Just employing 3 or 4 people to sweep the market grounds would keep this allegedly nice market from looking like such an open air rubbish bin all the time.

amyl

Whoa!!! whats that???

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capt_mahajan

Vasant Lok market is bad. I live nearby whenever I am in Delhi, and people are bathing (and worse) in the fountain early morning, the parking area behind the market is filthy and stinks, and there is garbage everywhere, with uncontrolled hawkers adding to the mess.
Vasant Vihar market is not better.

I am sure they have more than 3/4 people to clean, but the responsibility probably rests with the Muncipal Corpn of Delhi. And so, to rant again, the problem is accountability, not lack of manpower.

And poor civic sense. Most all of India suffers from that.

icetea

hmm..danger topic, it's quite unwise to start a topic about cleanliness here...it seems to be a tabu subject

People tend to see public spaces as not belonging to anybody, thus free to dirty: I'll keep my own house sparkling clean, but my duty extends only til the gate, and beyond that it's no man's land; I might complain of how dirty it is out in the street, but I will rarely lift a finger. Poor civic sense, as capt_mahajan says.

Also, I'm sure it has a lot to do with the rather strong hierarchy in Indian society: people simply find cleaning a menial job, and will delegate it as much as possible to lower class people. No respectable middle-class woman will do the cleaning herself in her own house. So if this is the example we have indoors, how can one expect people to make that extra effort to clean or keep clean public spaces?

And then it's of course the fault of the city administration. As the poster says, this is a tremendous job opportunity for so many poor people. But thing is, people are not even complaining much about the dirt in the streets, they are so used to it by now.

cyberhippie

Why the western obsession with sterile cleanliness, our water supplies are groaning under the pressure!!