The Compliance Conundrum

Indians know civic responsibility but often don't practise it. This survey reveals the disconnect between awareness and real-world behaviour

- By Dipankar Gupta

This survey comes to two important conclusions. First, most people in India know what the right thing is to do and then don't do it. Second, the southern states, particularly Kerala, are way ahead of the North in terms of civic consciousness. This includes a host of fac- tors covering a wide spectrum. They stretch from awareness of public cleanliness, religious tolerance, banning tobacco, neighbourhood safety and, most striking of all, gender parity.

Like most surveys, one has to read this one too between the numbers, keeping in mind the many limitations that such exercises chronically suffer from. The most common one is that the very act of asking questions gives the game away and the responses then are, as if, rehearsed. The respondents are conscious that they are being judged and accordingly reply in ways that would make them look good.

On the face of it, some of the findings seem controvertible, but if a long view is taken, then the figures tell us an interesting story. Here, two quick illustrations will suffice. This survey records that 99 per cent of the respondents in Delhi say ticketless travel is bad, or that 86 per cent disapprove of littering in public places, but everyday experiences on both these issues are very different.

Likewise, 87 per cent of the respondents believe that it is wrong to tamper with electricity meters or that 88 per cent say they would stop to call the police or ambulance should they come across a serious accident. Yes, these figures are questionable, but what emerges through this thicket of numbers is that people know that littering or tampering with meters or travelling ticketless is wrong. But why then are their actions not in concordance with their statements?