A week after the ‘Ho Ho Shame Shame’ campaign was announced, the quirky campaign has witnessed only a limited response from the public. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in its Facebook page on the same, ‘Hohoshameshame’, has so far received just 10 submissions and over 300 likes.
Jumping into the Swachchh Bharat bandwagon like other Government bodies, the NDMC among its other initiatives had moulded this quirky idea to make it more appealing to the tech savvy lot. However, the agency is still awaiting submissions for its web campaign that encourages citizens to send in pictures of people dirtying the city.
“The campaign has not been pushed in full swing so far as the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan begins from October 2 lasting till October 23. We are certain it is going to pick up in the coming days. So far, the page has got 381 likes and nearly 11 submissions,” said a senior official. While the civic body’s page jokingly states it will give away a prize to the “most uncivilised person”, the entries with the best exposé of the day will be rewarded. Going a step ahead, the agency also plans to upload pictures of complaints which are addressed by the council. “We have observed that people are uploading pictures of garbage dumps on streets which is our responsibility. The moment we receive a complaint in which we can help, we will address the issue and post a picture on the page,” said another official. Ideally, people can upload pictures of anyone urinating, littering or spitting in public in an attempt to shame them, added the official.
Apart from this, the agency has also used “embarrassment” as a tool to make people aware about anti-littering. As part of measures to combat dirt, students from NDMC schools are now presenting flowers to those found littering. The students carried out the drive on Sunday morning in Connaught Place, the commercial hub of the Capital. The NDMC, the smallest of three civic agencies in the Capital, has also named Santosh Yadav, who twice scaled the Everest, as its Brand Ambassador for the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan campaign. Yadav said in a letter to the Council that she would be happy to be part of “this noble cause”. Officials said that though NDMC was making effort to clean up, much was expected from residents too.
