‘Even Sri Lanka feels cleaner than India’: Viral post spells out why trash is everywhere, blames caste system

A post by Jasveer Singh has sparked widespread discussion on X (formerly Twitter). The Co-Founder and CEO of Knot Dating argues that India's cleanliness problem has nothing to do with awareness or infrastructure. And, it has everything to do with caste conditioning, he says.

In his post, Singh has written that Indians do not litter because they lack civic sense. They litter, he argues, because they genuinely believe cleaning is not their job. And, that belief has been drilled into people for generations through the caste system.

Singh points out that caste in India was never only about social hierarchy. It was fundamentally about the division of labour. Cleaning was pushed to the very bottom of that hierarchy.

As a result, even today, people carry the same subconscious mindset without realising it. When someone throws garbage in a park and walks away, Singh argues, their brain does not even register that they should pick it up. It’s because, somewhere deep inside, they associate cleaning with people of a lower social status.

“You go to a park, people will eat, throw garbage, walk away. Not because they’re unaware. Their brain literally doesn’t even register that they should pick it up. Why. Because somewhere deep inside, they think cleaning is a ‘lower’ person’s job,” he wrote.

“Same everywhere - Hill stations, rivers, tourist spots. Trash it and leave. Not laziness. Conditioning,” he added.

He draws a sharp contrast with Singapore, where people clean their own tables after eating, carry tissues and dispose of waste properly. The reason, according to him, is simple. They do not think it is someone else's job.

“Compare this with somewhere like Singapore - You eat at a place, people clean their own table. They carry tissues, wipe it, and throw garbage properly. Why? Because they don’t think it’s someone else’s job. Even Sri Lanka feels cleaner than India!” Singh wrote on X.

Singh is dismissive of government-led solutions. According to him, campaigns like Swachh Bharat cannot fix a problem that is rooted in identity rather than infrastructure.

According to him, putting dustbins every ten steps will change nothing as long as the underlying mindset remains intact.

“And then we pretend it’s a Swachh Bharat problem. You can run a hundred Swachh Bharat campaigns. Put dustbins every ten steps. Nothing changes. Because the problem is not infrastructure. It’s identity,” he concluded.

The post has generated significant debate online. Many users agree while others are pushing back on the framing.

This report is based on user-generated content from social media. LiveMint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.

Social media reaction

“If upper caste litter because they think lower caste will clean, then parts of villages where lower castes live must be cleaner. It is the opposite in real…It takes two generations to get it done if we start from schools and stop blaming caste for everything,” wrote one of them.

“I’ve always believed it’s a privilege issue more than a civic sense issue. When people grow up thinking public spaces aren’t their responsibility, entitlement takes over, and accountability vanishes,” came another comment.

One user wrote, “Caste has nothing to do with this. Most people have adequate civic sense (including cleanliness). It's only about 10% of the population that lacks these things.”

“Same goes to people who keep complaining India is not growing. They just want to complain, the day they all decide to work hard. Nobody can stop India. India's growth is in the hands of the people of India, not the government of India,” came from another.