The village panchayats are cogent bodies and subject to greater accountability by local villagers. Many panchayats take a keen interest in their civic responsibilities.

I visited a few thousand villages and towns on work, when I headed sales/customer service at Hindustan Unilever. Hygiene levels in villages are frequently better than in cities. However, villages are ill-equipped to handle outbreak of diseases and natural disasters.

Later, Unilever work took me to the interiors of Latin America and Africa. Villages and slums there are cleaner than those in India. A Brazilian colleague remarked: 'Indians keep clean temples, homes, but dirty cities.'

A repulsive feature of our society is the absence of adequate toilet facilities. It is disgraceful to see people relieving themselves on the roads, in bylanes or in the fields. It is reprehensible that after six decades of independence, we have inadequate toilets.

The BBC and Economist magazine estimate that 700 million Indians, almost 70 percent of the population, do not have latrines attached to their homes. This is outrageous. What is the use of having the technology to conquer the moon if we cannot even provide a toilet to every citizen? Public toilets should be built at every one kilometre distance on all roads.

Panchayats, municipalities and state governments do not realise the importance of providing adequate toilets. There is a scattering of these facilities in towns, but they are pathetically maintained, stink severely and become disease-carriers. Full-time paid attendants should maintain and clean public toilets. Municipalities can recover the costs of maintaining public toilets, by charging users a fee.

Mission 'India Clean' has to become a national passion to have an impact. It must be translated into a simple campaign, by communication agencies, and should be communicated through basic messages and symbols in every town and village. The leadership and ownership of this movement should be local. Ordinary citizens and NGOs must lead the campaign for hygiene and cleanliness in homes, villages, neighbourhoods and towns.

India aspires to become a global power, an economic powerhouse. To achieve these goals, we need to clean the sludge and slush of centuries from our streets.

(06-09-2009 The author is CEO of a food business in the Middle East. He has authored a book 'Agenda For a New India' and can be reached at rajuaneja@hotmail.com)