Women on top

BMC realises why this position is better after female clean-up marshals collect more fine, convince citizens not to litter

BMC realises why this position is better after female clean-up marshals collect more fine, convince citizens not to litter

The BMC has realised what women have always believed that they are much better at any job than men.

The civic body has decided to rope in women to be clean-up marshals after they found that they do a better job of shaming the public when it comes to littering and paying up the fine.

"Women are more dedicated than men and we therefore decided to give it a try," said Bhalchandra Patil, chief engineer of the BMC's solid waste management.

The proposal to appoint women as clean-up marshals will be placed before the standing committee next week.
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R A Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner, said, "We have cancelled our contract with TRIG Security, which provided male marshals, in a few wards.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: BMC's clean- up marshals fine a taxi driver for spitting on the day the campaign was launched on November 15, 2007. It has been found that male marshals tend to look for bigger offences like creating debris, while women tend to pick on urinating, littering, etc.

Women can do a better job than men when it comes to cleanliness. They keep the house clean, so they'll do the same with their locality."

To test the theory, the BMC had initiated a pilot in L ward, Kurla, and introduced a few women marshals. "To our surprise, they did a better job than men.

So far, we had faced a lot of difficulty in this ward in collecting fines and requesting people to keep their surrounding clean. We are keen to replicate it in other wards," said Rajeev.

Better Skills

The clean-up campaign faced some hiccups on November 15 after corporators blamed marshals for corruption. However, after assurance from the administration, it was renewed.

Said Ajay Govale, BMC's third party auditor to review the clean-up marshals, "We found that the offenders were polite and receptive towards women marshals.

Of the 32 clean-up marshals in Kurla, six were women. And they caught 75 per cent more individual offenders for spitting, urinating, etc than their male counterparts.

This means women clean-up marshals have better communication skills and know how to tackle an offender."

2007
The year the Clean-Up Mumbai campaign was launched

Rs 5.94 Cr
The fine collected so far from the clean-up campaign

2.75 Lakh
The number of people fined for littering public places

400
The approximate number of clean-up marshals

BMC Shows The Way

The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been following in the footsteps of the BMC. In April this year, the PMC introduced clean-up marshals on the city's eight main roads. So far, they have collected Rs 10 lakh as fine. The PMC fines Rs 200 for spitting and Rs 100 for urinating on roads.