All India Radio Studio – 4th March 1949
The radio studio was quiet except for the hum of equipment. Arjun sat behind a wooden desk with a large microphone in front of him. A technician adjusted dials behind glass panels. Red lights showed they were broadcasting live across the nation.
The technician held up three fingers. Then two. Then one.
"This is All India Radio. We now bring you an address to the nation by Prime Minister Arjun Mehra."
Arjun leaned toward the microphone. His voice was clear and steady.
"My fellow Indians. Brothers and sisters.
In recent week, I have travelled across our nation. I have seen magnificent progress everywhere. New steel plants in Ranchi. New Locomotives in Kanpur. American tractors in our fields. But I have also seen something troubling.
I have seen filth in our streets. Waste choking our drains. Casual neglect that diminishes our dignity as a free nation. And this…this must change.
Tomorrow, the National Cleanliness and Public Health Act become law. This is not just another government rule. This is a call to our national conscience.
What does this mean for you?
First, littering in public will carry heavy fines or community service. Every piece of trash makes us all poorer in dignity.
Second, spitting, urinating, and defecating in public will be completely prohibited. We ask you to behave in public as you would in your own home.
Third, all food vendors must be licensed and operate from clean facilities with proper water and waste systems. Not to mention, they are required to carry any sort of container/dustbin where customers can throw the garbage.
Fourth, every town must build proper sewage and drainage. Every village must have sanitary wells and waste disposal.
Fifth, every citizen will be responsible for keeping their surroundings clean. The street in front of your house. The market where you shop. These are your responsibility.
Never ever throw the garbage in open, it becomes the breeding grounds for new diseases. So, always ensure to throw garbage in a designated area, and most importantly, always properly seal whatever garbage you are throwing.
Now here is the important part. We are creating a National Cleanliness Index. Every city, town, and village will be scored annually on cleanliness. Communities with the highest scores get priority for all government development projects. Modern housing. New roads. Better schools. Industrial jobs.
If your neighborhood becomes known for cleanliness, you will be first in line for progress.
But we need your help. If you see someone littering or violating these standards, report them to the local police or Cleanliness Union office. You will receive a reward for each valid report. You are not being petty. You are being patriotic. You are defending your community's honor.
The National Cleanliness Union will have branches everywhere. They will organize cleaning drives. They will provide education. They will help build the infrastructure that makes cleanliness possible.
This will not happen overnight. Changing habits takes time. But we will not give up. We will not settle for anything less than an India that shines with pride.
One must not forget that our sages had described cleanliness as a vital part of our Dharm.
When foreign visitors come to India, they should see not just our steel plants, but our clean streets. When we negotiate with other nations, they should respect us for our obvious dignity and self respect.
A clean India is a strong India.
In the coming months, you will face small choices every day. Will you throw that banana peel on the street or find a waste bin? Will you ignore litter in your neighborhood or pick it up?
These small choices, multiplied across millions of people, will determine whether we become the dignified nation I know we can be.
You have shown courage in fighting for independence. You have shown wisdom in building democracy. You have shown energy in constructing industries.
Now show pride in your surroundings. Show care for the spaces you share. Show responsibility for the India your children will inherit.
Together, we can make India not just free and strong, but also clean and beautiful.
The choice is yours. The time is now.
Thank you. Jai Hind."
The red light clicked off. Arjun leaned back and took a deep breath. Across the nation, millions of people had heard his words. Now the real work would begin.
He had issued a challenge to change not just laws, but daily habits. Time would tell if Indians could surprise the world once again with their capacity for transformation.
Across India – 5th March, 1949
The executive order about National Cleanliness and Public Health Act was signed and passed in early March 1949. It came not too long after the Uniform Civil Code, which had already stirred up the country. This new law was different though. It wasn't about land rights or marriage customs.
It was about something much more personal. It was about how people lived their daily lives. How they kept their homes and streets. How they behaved in public spaces.
The law reached into every corner of India. Every street and market. Every village well and city square. Delhi was demanding that people change habits they had followed for generations. The National Publicity Unit worked hard to shape public opinion.
In the big cities like Bombay and Calcutta, people started grumbling almost immediately. Street vendors were especially upset. A fruit seller in Crawford Market complained loudly to anyone who would listen.
"Now they want to tell us how to live our lives! Where am I supposed to put my rotten fruit if not in the gutter? And these new food centres... more licenses to buy, more fees to pay!"
The chaiwala next to him nodded in agreement. He had been fined twice already for spitting near his tea stall. "For 10 years I have been making tea here. Now suddenly they say I am doing everything wrong."
The ban on spitting in public caused particular confusion. Men who had always cleared their throats wherever they stood now looked around nervously before doing it. The prohibition against urinating in public spaces made life difficult for many working men. Where were they supposed to go during long work days?
But not everyone in the cities was unhappy. A quieter group of people, mostly middle-class families and educated professionals, felt cautiously hopeful. Mrs. Kamla Devi, a schoolteacher in Madras, talked about it with her colleagues during their lunch break.
"Finally, someone is doing something about the filth in our cities," she said. "I am tired of having to see piles of garbage every morning. If this law can actually make India clean, it will change everything. Our children deserve better than this."
Her friend Mrs. Sadhvi nodded enthusiastically. "When my sister visited from London last year, she was shocked by the state of our streets. She said even poor neighbourhoods there are cleaner than our standard areas. That made me feel ashamed."
The women discussed how the new law might affect their daily routines. They would have to be more careful about where they threw kitchen waste. They would need to teach their children new habits. But they thought it was worth trying.
In the villages, the reaction was more complicated. The Provisional Learning Outposts were slowly introducing people to the new rules. Village elders gathered under banyan trees to debate what the government wanted from them.
"Designated waste pits? Sanitary wells?" An old farmer in Uttar Pradesh shook his head. "Who is going to pay for maintaining or repairing of these new pits and wells?"
His neighbor, a younger man who had attended some PLO meetings, tried to explain. "They say we can get priority for development projects if our village scores high on cleanliness. New roads, better schools, maybe even electricity."
"They are being naïve to think that all people will simply comply. What would they do for those who don't follow the law?"
"Fines. Heavy fines. And then mandatory community cleaning. We have to clean the whole village ourselves as punishment."
The idea of mandatory community cleaning duty caused heated discussions. Some people resented being forced to do work they thought was beneath them. Others accepted it as a necessary collective responsibility.
"My father never had to sweep streets," one villager complained. "Why should I?"
"Your father never had the chance for government development projects either," another replied. "Times are changing. We can change with them or get left behind."
Local cleanliness wardens began making their rounds. These were village headmen and newly trained Citizen Reserve Corps members. They carried notebooks and wrote down violations. At first they only gave warnings. But soon they started issuing actual fines.
The National Cleanliness Union began its massive work across the country. Lal Bahadur Shastri had organized it under the Ministry of Labour. The Union had branches in every major and minor town and city.
They were staffed by dedicated volunteers and some police operatives. Of course, small amount of IB had been placed as well, just to ensure they monitor any corrupt practice or misuse of funds.
These local branches organized mass cleaning drives. They used the National Publicity Unit's messaging to frame cleanliness as patriotic duty. Posters appeared on walls everywhere. One showed a gleaming modern street next to a filthy crowded bazaar. The slogan read: "Clean Bharat, Strong Bharat!"
Another poster showed children playing in a clean park. The message was: "Your Duty, Your Dignity, Your India!"
Even some of the famous celebrities also pitched in this narrative.
Radio programs explained the health benefits of better sanitation. Newspaper articles connected cleanliness to national progress. The message was consistent everywhere. A clean India would be a stronger India. A respected India.
But the most powerful motivation came from the National Cleanliness Index.
Which created intense competition among local governments. Mayors and district collectors suddenly became very interested in street cleaning. They pressured citizens to follow the new rules. They hired more private sanitation workers. And organized volunteer cleaning days.
"The local officials are scrambling, Prime Minister," Sardar Patel reported to Arjun in late March. There was dry amusement in his voice.
"Every mayor wants their city to rank high on the Cleanliness Index. The people still grumble about the new rules. But the local authorities are starting to enforce them seriously. Nobody wants to lose out on those development funds."
Arjun listened to the report with cold satisfaction. He had expected this reaction. He knew that centuries of ingrained habits would not change overnight. People needed both incentives and consequences to modify their behavior.
But his law was carefully designed to compel that change. The promise of development projects was the carrot. The threat of fines and community service was the stick. Together they would gradually reshape how Indians lived their daily lives.
This was social engineering on a massive scale. It was a methodical effort to transform the physical and civic fabric of the entire nation. Arjun wanted India's outward appearance to match the internal order he was building. He wanted foreign visitors to see a clean, disciplined country.
The vision of a spotless, organized India was taking its first uncertain steps. Some people resisted. Others embraced it eagerly. But everyone was beginning to feel the pressure to change.
Of course, at the end of the day, the transformation would take years to complete. But like Arjun had said, it was the first step in this direction. And they'll reach the end, eventually.