Indian minister’s latest campaign: No toilet, no bride
October 22, 2012 - An Indian minister is determined to provide toilets to all women
in India urging them not to get married into families with no toilets. The zeal and
commitment of Union Minister for Rural Development and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh towards
sanitation issues can be seen in his latest advice to women, mostly rural women, who
hardly have toilets inside their house. "Don't get married in a house where there
is no toilet," Ramesh said while addressing locals, majority of whom were women, at
Khajuri village near Kota and cited a slogan "No toilet, no bride". While consulting
astrologers before their marriage, Ramesh said, women should also make sure whether
there is a toilet at their groom's home. He also said that those who defecate in
open should be arrested. Ramesh launched the third edition of Nirmal Bharat Yatra
at Sangod, a small town, in Kota district. Nirmal Bharat Yatra is a government campaign
to spread awareness about sanitation and hygienic practices. Noting that sanitation
is an issue related to women's dignity and safety, Ramesh said the campaign is a people's
movement aiming to eradicate the menace of open defecation in ten years. The minister
was recently embroiled in controversy for saying that the country has more temples
than toilets, leading to protests by right-wing Hindu outfits. According to the Household
Amenities Census 2011, released earlier this year, nearly half of India defecates
in the open but at the same time more than 63 per cent have access to either a landline
or a mobile phone.