Whenever there is a conversation about "improving" India, the one topic that inevitably comes up is how filthy our streets are. Depending on your conversation group, fingers get immediately pointed in different directions. Inefficient corporation workers, lack of infrastructure, corrupt politicians, hungry cows, pan munching bapus who spit everywhere. The list is endless. I did my share of whining in an article in 'The Hindu' about a year ago. And everyone has their own solutions to the problem ranging from sacking the mayor to imprisoning garbage throwers. So here's my two cents.
I'm sure many of us have noticed that entire cities are becoming marketing real estate these days. Not a single wall is spared from advertising. Publicity is hot cake and always has been. I'm sure the prophets would vouch for that. That's why I think the government should get into the business of marketing.
Here's how it works. The supreme court bans all forms of advertising on public property in major cities. Every single hoarding, poster, bus stand ads and cutout comes down. This is the hardest to implement but it has to be done for this to work. Next, the state government creates approved marketing spaces throughout the city. This can be safely placed hoardings, walls dedicated to posters etc. These are then leased out to private companies who want to advertise, at a nominal cost, BUT the company has to take the responsibility of cleaning up that particular street or council. The bigger the ad the bigger area they have to clean. If the company fails to meet the criteria, the government gets to takes down their ad. So as long there is a demand for an ad space on the public arena there will be someone to do the cleaning up. And the increased need for sanitation workers by private companies could mean many jobs for the needy.
Of course this does not mean the corporation gets to sit back and relax. All this is on top of what the corporation workers already do. This just gets more hands on the job thats all.
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