Indian state to post images of those who pee in public on YouTube

The government in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is set to post images of those caught peeing in public on YouTube as part of its cleanliness initiative. State government officials said more CCTV cameras will be installed in public places to catch offenders red-handed.

CCTVs would be placed at key bus stations across the state by the Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation. The initiative is part of the department's efforts towards the federal administration's flagship Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign.

"Our aim is to reform those who shun public toilets and pee in the open. After all, it is for the betterment of all," the corporation's regional manager for Bareilly told the Times of India.

Several such campaigns have been launched in the past to curb the practice of public peeing – in the densely populated country where there is a chronic toilet shortage. Despite attempts like erecting warnings or even religious messages to deter those who pee in public, open defecation remains one of India's key sanitation problems.

According to World Health Organisation statistics, as many as 597 million people of the 1.3 billion population still relieve themselves outdoors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to eradicate the practice of open defecation before 2019 and made it a cornerstone of his administration's policies.