Spitting on roads is one recurrent scene people in India are habitual to catch the sight of. One can see paan stains on roadways, government buildings, and even in hospitals in India.
As it is very usual in India it won’t be a far-reaching issue for spitters but what if that habit travels abroad?
Since more Indians are settled in the United Kingdom, Leicester police force and the Leicester City Council had set up a signboard reading: “Spitting paan on the street is unhygienic and anti-social.” And then in all capital letters and red colour it warned the residents, specifically Gujaratis, “You could be fined £150.” The text on the board was written in Gujarati and in English.
The practice of paan-spitting among Indian origin people residing in Britain’s has annoyed many, prompting city councils to impose fines.
Leicester reportedly has a large number of Indian-origin people residing in the vicinity of Belgrave Road and Melton Road.
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The paan spitting menace has been continuing for ages. In fact in 2016 a city council spokesman said, “We are aware of this problem, which is unhygienic and leaves unsightly stains on pavements. We are looking at including paan-spitting in a future city-wide Public Spaces Protection Order.”
To cope with ‘paan’ spittle, towns with large Indian populations like Birmingham and Bradford have also imposed fines.
