By Nimisha Medhi
SHILLONG: A Popular Talk by retired IAS officer Toki Blah was organized by the Department of Sociology, St. Mary’s College, Shillong, on Tuesday. The theme of the talk was “My Shillong. A Clean Shillong” which fraternized with the raging issue of cleanliness that has picking up pace in the country these days.
Blah, president of the Informed Conscious And Responsible Existence (ICARE), expressed his delight in being amongst the young crowd. He began his talk by saying that he did not see himself as a speaker on the issue but as a stake holder in the welfare and well-being of the city.
Mentioning that the welfare of a society is based on cleanliness, he said, “It is difficult to move the Indian society, to get them excited about something.”
The Swachh Bharat campaign, he mentioned, is one such thing that has for the first time linked cleanliness to the over-all development of the country.
Blah also spoke about the projects undertaken by his organization ICARE, one of which was a cleanliness drive at Police Bazaar.
“This project is an attempt to bring together all the shop owners of the area and get the place cleaned with the help of participation. The shop owners mostly hold the hawkers for the cause of this dirt. A step in this matter has however been taken in the form of holding training classes for the hawkers and educating them about the ill-effects of an unhealthy environment,” he claimed.
The speaker also talked about pollution in the Wahumkhrah and Umshyrpi, a cause he has for long been associated with.
He further expressed his disappointment at the state of affairs of the Shillong Municipal Board and the reluctance of the people in entertaining the idea of extending the jurisdiction of the municipality which, currently, extends over only about 10 sq. km. in the State.
“Municipal elections have not been held for the past 30 years. It is ridiculous. How can a city function without such a body?” was his rhetoric question.
Exhorting youths as being the torch-bearer of social causes and participatory development, Blah urged them to take a small step and ‘adopt’ a footpath or road in front of their houses and be dedicated towards keeping it clean.
The talk saw an interactive participation from the faculty as well as the students. One of the teachers cited the problem of influx in adding up to the dirt in the city and stated that “This is a much greater issue. To keep the city clean one has to feel a sense of belonging to it.”
On a concluding note, Blah said, “I do not see any answer to this problem; the government is clueless. I therefore look to this new generation to come up with some answers”.