Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
We know cleanliness is very important factor of hygienic living. But in our country a large number of people are not that much aware of cleanliness in their daily lives. Both in rural and urban areas it is equally true in Bangladesh. As a civilized nation we cannot ignore the necessities of cleanliness in toilets and kitchen in homesteads and as well as in the different private and public institutions. Poor numbers of clean toilets and clean kitchens are the general phenomena in Bangladeshi society. In the student dormitories, many of us use toilets without thinking of the next person. As a result of this consequence the toilets remain dirty for the whole day in general. Sweepers come next day morning and they clean the toilet and bathrooms. The first person using the toilet is lucky but in general he will not think of the next person who will use toilet after him. This is the common phenomena of all the dorms, schools, hospitals, railways waiting rooms in the stations and bus stands, ferries at ferry Ghats. In the public places in Dhaka city, some so called modern public toilets have been constructed by both the city corporations and these toilets are being maintained moderately by the city corporations. But the facilities given by the city corporations are not enough to mitigate the passersby of vast Dhaka city.
To mitigate this problem Local government ministry should take joint venture with privet entrepreneurs and create a cell for feasibility study. They can identify the problems and try to give the proper services to the people in an integrated way. Otherwise all the initiatives will go in vain.
Similarly, cleanliness of kitchens in the homesteads, restaurants, hospitals in our country are not moderately up to the recognized standard. Waste disposals of kitchens are very poor in our country. If anyone enters any kitchen of a dormitory or any normal restaurant of our country he might not have the willingness to take lunch, dinner or breakfast there. This situation is very common in our country. In the homesteads, housewives are generally dependent on housemaids with some exceptions. But exceptions cannot be a standard. In our society every capable members are not involved in homestead work like western countries. Family head is assigned for earning and he is to do that and for that generally he doesn’t do any homesteads work. The other capable persons of a joint or single family are also out of the systems of home cleaning. With some exceptions homesteads cleaning are completely dependent on housemaids or servants. However, these people clean everything and do their homesteads work by their own when they go abroad but in their own country they are not willing to do their homesteads work. Toilet and kitchen cleaning is always done by maids and servants in Bangladesh society. In a modern civilized and developed country it is totally unthinkable. There everybody cleans their kitchens and toilets by their own. Keeping a person to do this sort of work is very costly there and somebody working their private area is completely against their norms and values.
Cleaning kitchens and toilets by others may not be satisfactory to the family head of a particular family all the time and it is not always possible to the housewives to keep watch on the work done by housemaids or servants. For that reason we have to change our mindset regarding this issue. For the change, every adult member of a family should be aware of cleanliness of toilets and kitchens in their residence and they have to do something for cleanliness of kitchens and toilets whenever they get time. In this way we can make a change in our homesteads and as a result of these consequences children will be aware of cleanliness in their homesteads.
We know cleanliness will be sometime a factor of making social relationship. There are many instances that in the discussion of marriage both parties are very much conscious about cleanliness of toilets and kitchens. And members of the both the parties are watching the cleanliness of toilets and kitchens of each other residences. In this way both parties try to know the taste and standard of cleanliness of them. So for hygienic living, cleanliness is very important factor in our personal and social life.
In the public places and in many institutions toilets and kitchens are not clean properly. These situations are prevailing everywhere.
If any one goes to ferries of Paturia ghat and Maowa ghat he can see the unclean and dirty toilets in ferries. Passengers feel very uneasy to use those toilets. Especially, ladies are facing a severe problem in ferries for nature’s call.
Years after years this situation is prevailing and it seems there is no authority to address this problem. Anyone who visiting their patient in the ward of public hospitals will get the same experience if he he/she goes into the toilets of that particular ward. Similarly same thing will be happening in railway compartments, waiting rooms of railway stations and bus stoppages. But this we can change this situation easily without spending much money. To overcome those problems as a nation we change first of our mindset and behavioral pattern. In the public buildings, we see Sweepers or Cleaners do their work one time in the morning and rest of the day they remain absent.
But their job is meant for the whole day office time that is 9 am to 5 pm. So enforcement of their presence in the offices by the authority is a must for the sake of cleanliness and side by side we all have to be aware of necessities for hygienic living otherwise things will go worse gradually.
With the above discussion, it appears that Cleanliness issue is a big problem in our country. We all are very much vocal for cleanliness publicly but personally many of us do not clean of our places by our own rather we are very much dependent on our supporting personnel.
In the public places many of us are not that much aware to keep the area clean rather some of us throw the leftover food items, one time glasses, plates and plastics, polythene materials and used packs. A little change in behavioral pattern of us can change this situation encouragingly.
So for hygienic living the policy makers of our country can suggest some steps given below:
a. Start public awareness campaign regarding cleanliness of toilets and kitchens in the homesteads.
b. Start campaigning for the change of mind setting of cleaning toilets and kitchens in the homesteads.
c. Organize such a system in the public offices so that all the toilets and kitchens of the restaurants remain cleaned and at the same time a day in a month can be declared by the government as a ‘cleaning day’.
d. Lessons on cleanliness regarding toilets and kitchens must be included in the curriculum so that children can learn about cleanliness of different dimensions in the schools.
e. Government and the City authority should introduce research program on modern scientific waste management in the households and public places.
Keeping this discussion in our mind we can start cleanliness program in the homesteads/households right now and in this way our mind set will be changed regarding cleanliness and in the forthcoming days Bangladesh will be truly a civilized and clean country.
