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Dihe Mao
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Jakhama
Civic sense or rather the lack of it, is a topic that has been widely discussed, argued and expressed lots of concerns over it by the people of Nagaland, like in any other society in India. Somehow, most people do not care much for civic sense. And this attitude is prevalent to all sections of our society. Writers and activists used to say that ‘Man is born with five senses, few born with sixth sense, but none is born with civic sense’. Civic sense is acquired from the society that teaches us language, culture and norms of our own. However, social values are put in the back burner and people today are so driven to their personal goals that civic sense as an ethic has become a low priority, almost a nuisance.
Civic sense means social ethics. It is nothing but an ethic to be followed by people in public. It is commonly understood as keeping the roads, streets and public places clean, for instance, throwing trash in garbage can, not urinating or stooling in public places, and the likes. However, civic sense covers a wider scope. It also means being kind, showing consideration to the elderly, women, children and the disabled, driving in a lane without honking, and smoking only in designated areas. It involves and includes traffic, government, health, education, environment, to respect other fellow beings, abide by the laws, not resorting to unethical means in day-to-day activities, being considerate and tolerant towards others, etc. In general, civic sense reflects the real personality and shows the responsibility of each person. Thus, social norms, behavior, codes and ethics form part of the civic sense.
There are numerous examples which indicate that Nagas lack civic sense. The most glaring example is the dirty roads, streets and other public places. We believe that by paying taxes, we have the right to throw garbage, spit, urinate on the roads and government has a duty to clear it. During rains our roads obstructs daily life, but we continue to blame the government for not clearing the drains. The litters come from almost everywhere- from the pedestrians, luxurious cars and public transport travelers, from young and old, educated or uneducated people, etc. It is significantly important to change our mindset of being individualistic and must develop a sense that public places belong to all of us and own a collective moral behavior. Unfortunately we lack collective moral behavior because we do not care about anyone in the society. We become too lazy to show our respect and sympathy to others. Civic sense does not come only from the application but from a sense of belonging.
Another problem is the traffic. Hardly any traffic rule is obeyed, because of which everyone faces hardships in multiple ways, particularly the traffic jams. We often blame the narrow roads and the increasing number of vehicles on the road for traffic jams. But we must also not forget that there are several other hill stations in India having similar narrow roads and are doing well; traffic jams are much less there. It is because everyone follows traffic rules very strictly and also the enforcement of rules by the enforcing authority is strict. Drunken driving, negligence of traffic rules, talking on the mobile phones while driving, wrong parking, taking wrong U-turns, etc. are some of the concerns which needed to be addressed immediately in our cities and towns. Drivers should be more responsible in following rules and also respect pedestrians crossing the road, particularly at the ‘Zebra Crossing Zones’. They should be more conscious of the civic responsibilities not only for their own safety but also for the security of others.
Nagaland has an unmatched natural and ethnic beauty where one can enjoy oneness with nature. It can be an amazing tourist destination with a breath-taking view of the majestic hills and valleys. It is often called ‘The Switzerland of the East’ due to its scenic beauty. We have our proud cultural, religious, social, educational civilizations. But regardless of all these factors, generally, we lack sense of being civic. We are deprived of our ethical approach. No one is to be blamed but ourselves for this condition. At home or in workplace, we put the waste in the bin and teach our children to do so but overlooked it when the child throws it on the road.
What should we do then? We should realize that teaching civic sense is as important as warning the child against fire. The latter harms him directly whereas the lack of civic sense can or proved catastrophic for the whole society. We should find the best and appropriate means to instill social values for all people. A well planned and coherent educational system with effective training strategies and concentrated efforts will be able to instill values among young generations. Roman philosophers and moral historians like Cicero, Tacitus, Plutarch and others felt that instead of punishing the sinners, sin could be prevented by raising virtuous children, this being the responsibility of parents, teachers and the likes, to instill social values. We need volunteers from students, youths, local bodies and other civil organizations to campaign for and impart civic sense to the people of all sections. Particularly, those designated organizations to campaign and promote cleanliness in the state should do more. If all these measures do not produce the desired result, we may recommend strict enforcement of rules by the government authority and punish the defaulter by imposing fines, because this is practiced even in developed countries whose people are having high sense of being civic.
