Indians lacking civic sense is a phenomenon that is being discussed with increasing frequency. With the digital sector increasing in size, many people are taking to social media platforms to share their daily experiences, and one common thread is the sad state of civic sense shown by Indian people.
This has further been brought into the light by influencer, travel vloggers, who have brought up their experience of being in India and seeing the behaviour of citizens or talked about Indian tourists in foreign locations and how they behaved there.
A few days ago, a video went viral where a man was urinating inside a Delhi Metro station. The user who shared the video wrote, “Civic sense is seriously lacking among many people in Delhi. In metro premises, some openly urinate or even let children do the same. There’s a worrying lack of basic civic responsibility in the nation’s capital.”
Last year, in July, Nithin Kamath, Founder & CEO of Zerodha, also shared a video writing, “We often blame the government or other people for many societal issues, but real change begins with us. People watch, copy, and learn from what they see, whether it’s good or bad. Sadly, even the educated and elite rarely set the right examples when it comes to civic sense.”
In a Reddit post from October 2025, titled “Why do so many Indian tourists behave so poorly abroad,” a man, while waiting for his flight back to New Zealand from Singapore, wrote about the behaviour of tourists.
He wrote, “In the last five days alone, almost every time I found myself around a crowd of Indians, things got loud, chaotic, and frankly, pretty embarrassing. Lots of yelling, unnecessary noise, and most of all, cutting queues. Not once, not twice, but multiple times in a day”
He added, “When it becomes a pattern, it reflects a serious lack of basic civic sense. The disregard isn’t just towards others in public spaces, it’s often towards people within their own group too.”
But are the younger generations, especially Gen Z, also not aware of what civic sense really means?
Does Gen Z Understand Civic Sense?
An Instagram post by Delhi-based content creator Sonali Singh (soonali_singh) has brought attention to the meaning that Gen Z associates with the term ‘civic sense’.
View this post on Instagram
In the video, Singh captioned it as “Asking Gen Z, What is Civic Sense?” and the responses from the people were interesting, if not concerning in some cases.
In the video, one person said that civic sense is to “be yourself, be who you are, not try to pretend”, while another said, “who idealistically, which should not harm anyone else, anybody’s ideologies, emotionally.”
Another said “being self-aware of what you are saying to other people” and “basic human decency.” Singh concluded the video writing, “Is it that complicated???”
The common thread was that none of them really spoke about the real meaning of civic sense, instead talking about being true to oneself, human decency and more.
Read More: Is Mumbai Really The Happiest City In Asia For 2025? Many Laugh It Off
The term essentially comprises the awareness, responsibility, and consideration an individual shows toward shared public spaces, other people, and community life.
Some actions that can come under civic sense could be not littering, vandalising or damaging public property, following rules in common areas, such as traffic rules, public transport etiquette, waste disposal norms and further understanding that public spaces don’t belong to “no one,” but to everyone.
The comments of the video also pointed this out, mocking the people for being unable to say what the term really means.
One wrote, “Civic sense is basically the sense of the various sensors installed in the Honda Civic. Itna aasaan toh hai”, while another said, “I hope it’s clear that just knowing English language doesn’t account for General knowledge.”
A third pointed out that “Civic sense? They gave horoscopes, healing, personality test… everything except the answer”.
Another replied saying, “Ok, now I understand why most people don’t have it, because most people don’t know what it is.” Another also appealed that schools and colleges should start teaching civic sense as a proper subject.
In another recent video, an influencer has come under fire for snapping at a pedestrian while she was filming a “fit check,” a type of fashion reel where creators showcase their outfit, on a public sidewalk.
Mid-recording, a passerby walks through the frame, and instead of pausing or continuing later, the influencer openly criticises the man and accuses him of having “zero civic sense,” implying he should have avoided interfering with her video.
She said, “Koi video bana raha hoga, beech mein ghus jao bhai. Kahan hai civic sense? Aur koi sorry, galti se nikal gaye, kuch bhi nai, bus nikal je bhai (Someone is making a video, but they have to get in the middle. Where is the civic sense? And no, sorry, or I made a mistake, nothing. They will just come in between.”
What does these influencers think that every public place is their private property.
Look at the audacity of this girl to blame the person who was just walking by and didn’t even notice her. Next time the whole street will be closed for her to record her “fit check” pic.twitter.com/FKUCnRDAR2
— Chota Don (@choga_don) January 22, 2026
However, instead of netizens siding with the influencer, many criticised her for her entitled behaviour.
One user posted the video on X/Twitter and commented, “Why do these influencers think every public place is their private property? Look at the audacity of this girl blaming a person who was just walking by and didn’t even notice her. She wants the whole place closed so she can record her ‘fit check’.”
Another commented on an X/Twitter post that “Ab inke fit check k liye govt ko laadli fit check joyana start krni chahiye jisme ek road bs inke reel bnane k liye hoga.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Indian Express, India Today, Moneycontrol
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Civic Sense, gen z, gen z Civic Sense, Civic Sense india, Civic Sense indians, gen z indians, lack of Civic Sense
Disclaimer: We do not own any rights or copyrights to the images used; these images have been sourced from Google. If you require credits or wish to request removal, please contact us via email.
Other Recommendations:
Indians’ Paan Stains And Poor Civic Sense Doesn’t Spare Britain Roads Too
