Cleanliness in trains – minister wants dustbins in non-AC trains

As desired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Railways had taken up the cleanliness drive on October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti but it has failed to get the necessary momentum. Trying to introduce of cleanliness on railway platforms and stations and inside trains is a Herculean task given the mindset of us Indians.
We have acquired any number of bad and harmful habits like chewing paan (betel leaf) and tobacco and spitting out the saliva laden mess from our mouths into the nearest place. It is an unhealthy practice but a culture difficult to do away with unless someone decides to stamp it out in totality by introducing some sort of exemplary punishment. Spot fines could be an answer but the question would arise – who would do the policing.
Railway Minister Prabhu has suggested the banning of cooking and also relocation of commercial stalls, including eateries, from the platforms to keep railway stations clean and safe. A wonderful idea but how practical is it? Any railway platform is always chock-a-block with passengers – one lot arrives, another waits to leave. And – with the punctuality of trains never certain, the platforms would also have to accommodate passengers of delayed trains. If there are food outlets or stalls on the platforms, where would the passengers go for meals or snacks?
It seems the railways has plans for individual officers to adopt 700 stations, out of the 7,500 stations across the country but it is doubtful if introducing dustbins in non-AC caches would really serve any useful purpose or be feasible. The non-AC coaches invariably are overcrowded and passengers occupy every available space – including the passage in front of the toilets.
If the railway minister does want to make a difference he should not go in for populist measures but should pay more attention to punctual running of trains, preventing the entry and movement of vendors in trains, removing unauthorized people from the platforms. He should also ensure that there is adequate amount of water in the tanks, that the taps are in working condition, that the latches in the toilets are in order and the lights inside the compartment are OK.