Taking a step towards efficient implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the government is drafting a law under which spitting, urinating and throwing garbage in public spaces will become punishable offences.
However, the government has decided to draft a model bill and not a central law, which according to the Legal Affairs Department of the Law Ministry will be difficult to implement.
Hence, the Legislative Department of the Law Ministry is working on a model law, which will allow the states to implement it according to the local requirements, PTI reported.
"The Constitution has put sanitation and related issues in the state list. Therefore, there cannot be a central law... But cleanliness goes beyond a state's boundary. Thus, government plans a model law which can be adopted by states and modified as per their requirements," a senior official said.
Government is also considering to keep punishment, fine and law enforcement under the new model law (in process) similar to traffic challan, which will allow the concerned official to book the violators on the spot.
Even as the government was in process of preparing the draft, Railway Police of Agra division arrested 109 men on Friday for urinating in public places on railway properties. They were sent to jail for 24 hours and fined up to ₹500.
The arrests were made under Section 34 of the Police Act (Punishment for certain offences such as inconvenience, annoyance to passengers or residents in public places, roads, etc) on the orders of senior superintendent of police Gopeshnath Khanna, according to The Times of India report.
Khanna said that his drive was a part of Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
