How urgent is the air pollution problem to voters?
Air pollution is India’s second-largest public health risk. Yet, surveys leading upto the 2019 Lok Sabha elections showed that few believed air pollution to be amongst the top ten governance issues.
In April 2019 – a month shy of the elections – A-PAG launched the #pollutionkakyaplanhai campaign. A social media initiative, the campaign sought to draw attention to just how grave the issue of air pollution is. We released nine videos as part of the campaign that highlighted the negative impact that air pollution and poor air quality have on our health and quality of life.
At the end of each video, we displayed a phone number on the screen which we encouraged viewers to give missed calls to, if they wanted politicians to consider air pollution issues seriously.
The videos collectively garnered nearly 6 million views, with almost 30,000 people calling the number provided, to call for political action against the rising air pollution.
When promoted as a genuine and critical poll issue, we find that citizens care about mitigating air pollution, and are willing to engage with calls to action. Sensitisation, information dissemination, and awareness campaigns reveal that the demand and resolve to reduce air pollution is present among the public. This understanding formed the basis of a number of interventions we would later undertake at A-PAG.