2012-10-22 16:07:06

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.








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