Sweet bite for hospital hygiene offenders in West Bengal

Humiliation through Gandhigiri — is the new policy of the West Bengal health department to teach basic hygiene to visitors at different state-run hospitals.

The battalion deployed for accomplishing this task will be led by a group of schoolchildren. Each time a visitor is found spitting or littering waste on the hospital premises, a child will promptly go up to the offender and offer a chocolate bar or a lozenge. “Uncle, please do not spit. Rather take this lozenge,” the child will tell the visitor politely.

This month-long unique drive was started at different state-run hospitals in Kolkata from Monday. If the plan turns out to be successful, it could be extended to district hospitals in the next phase.

Policemen in plain clothes will accompany the children as some stubborn-headed visitors could feel offended by the gesture of offering chocolates. The cops will become alert when they see a child approaching a visitor in Gandhigiri style.

A senior state health department official said this unique style was adopted after other ways to make the public aware of basic hygiene failed. “Displaying posters, fining and even verbal abuse failed. What’s strange is that a person who is totally negligent of hygiene in a government hospital, becomes over conscious when he visits a private hospital. So we decided to try out this drive. At least, the feeling of shame will refrain some from committing such nuisance in hospitals,” he said.

The traffic department of Kolkata Police had adopted the Gandhian style to stop people from breaking road rules.

Schoolchildren were then deployed at busy crossings of the city. A traffic rule violator was given a flower and greeted with “congratulations for breaking the traffic rule”.