[profsummergig]

There was a recent scandal involving someone spitting paan/chewing tobacco on the floor inside one of the state assemblies.

A video I watched of a brand spanking new metro station in Mumbai. Marble floors and all. And a commenter pointed out a timestamp where you can see paan/chewing tobacco spit in a corner of the floor.

Here's what baffles me. It is well established that Indians chew paan/chewing tobacco. It is well established that they then spit these out. Why don't they have spitoons installed inside the state assembly or metro stations? Treat it as a cultural opportunity: create beautiful spitoons with culturally relevant designs on them. The type kings used to have in their courts. And have them sponsored by businesses (i.e. let them post digital banner ads on them). Enlightened capitalism!

[Cthulhu_]

Better yet would be to ban the practice entirely; spittoons in the US (think generic wild west saloons) were a major source of spreading diseases like tuberculosis. They (and chewing tobacco) went out of fashion in the '30's due to shifting perceptions of hygiene, and both chewing gum and cigarettes becoming the more favorable options. I'm not sure how much campaigning was done to achieve that though.

[lotsofpulp]

Someone willing to spit their filthy tobacco saliva everywhere and anywhere is not going to go out of their way to use a spitoon.

[thatloststudent]

"The Ugly Indian" [1] (a ragtag group of anonymous citizens) usually does that in India. In reality, though, these kinds of issues are only really seen as a minor inconvenience at most. Anecdotally, most middle-class people in here frown upon chewing tobacco, so I assume the government thinks that as long as they keep it relatively clean, nobody would think of dirtying it with their paan stains.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf1VA5jqmRo

[dartharva]

That's because no politician wants to be the one "promoting tobacco products" with such an initiative.

[quickthrowman]

Then someone has to empty the spittoons, people will use them as urinals and garbage cans, etc.