Why do we spit on security, then complain about the lack of it?!

In the wake of the July 13 serial blasts in Mumbai, Western Railway, a target of such blasts earlier woke up, picked up some security improvement plans gathering dust, and decided to install transparent acrylic bins at railway stations. Transparent bins are recognised as one among many elements that help improve security because bins have historically been quite popular with terrorists as ideal locations to plant explosive devices. Earlier knee jerk reactions to a blast saw bins being removed wholesale, and this translated into every day life this meant that we Indians who are rarely described as being civic conscious found even more excuse to litter. You surely can’t expect self-respecting Indians to shove a chocolate wrapper into the pocket and dispose of it at home?! No way! [caption id=“attachment_84044” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Pan stains  on the bin have already wrecked whatever improved security the transparency promised. Photo: Ivor Soans”] [/caption] So, transparent bins—no more excuses to litter and hopefully a slightly better level of security. According to a media report , each of these bins and the fitting pole cost Rs 2,800 and Rs 25 lakh will be spent in installing 800 such bins across the Western Railway network. But, it seems like Western Railway didn’t account for one small problem. Spitting and pan stains. Within a week of installation, pain stains covered the bins. Result—the bins are no longer transparent and commuters have new art work to admire as they wait for their train. Take a look at the photograph above—the bin is brand new because the cling wrap is still present, but pan stains have already wrecked whatever improved security the transparency promised. Considering pan stains are as common in India as corruption that Anna and company seek to wipe out, one would have thought the Western Railway authorities would have realised this problem before they blew Rs 25 lakh on these bins. But, evidently they didn’t. But rather than blame the government because it runs the Railways, think about what this also proves of us—citizens of India. While we are quick to blame the government for being unable to prevent terror attacks, we have no qualms about literally spitting at measures that could help improve security.