Kerala is perhaps the only state in INdia where this system is not prevalent. Everyi home has its own septic tank and the waste go there.
Way back in 1975, when I came to Delhi, I was surprised to see cycle rikshaw plying in Delhi roads. This system, of human pulling another human was got rid of in Kerala long back, if my memory is correct in the late sixties. When you go to a barbar shop, raising your arm for the barber to clean your under-arm hair is also considered uncivilized by people here. That kind of an awareness is needed in the rest of india, what is civilized and what is not civilized behaviour.
When messages about Kerala appear in these columns many tend to take a pot shot at them and say they are good for nothing, except for starting tea shops and doing third rated jobs for arabs. Without going into the merits and demerits of such statements, let us atleast congratulate them for what they have achieved in the field of cleanliness. We can see none shitting on the railway tracks in Kerala. Compared to other states, it is a great achievement, although Kerala too has to go a long way to make it 100% clean.
Even in the late seventies, I have seen scavengers in Delhi, the capital of INdia. Social awareness is what we required to get rid of such systems. Every day we see people who live even in Jhuggis spent huge amounts for marriages and other purpose, but they are not ready to spent a few thousand rupees for a proper latrine when they built jhuggis. T
