Days after he kicked up a row by stating that there are more temples
than toilets in India, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today urged women not to
get married into families which do not have toilets in their homes.
"Don't get married in a house where there is no toilet," the
Rural Development and Water and Sanitation Minister said while addressing
locals, majority of whom were women, at Khajuri village near Kota and cited a
slogan "No toilet, no bride". "You
consult the astrologers about rahu-ketu (planetary positions) to know about
suitability of stars before getting married. You should also look whether there
is a toilet at your groom's home before you decide to get married," he
said.
Later Ramesh launched the third edition of Nirmal Bharat Yatra at
Sangod, a small town, in Kota district. Launching the Yatra, he also cited a
slogan, "No toilet, no bride", coined by the Haryana government to
promote sanitation there. Ramesh also narrated the story of a woman- Anita
Narre- who left her husband's home in Madhya Pradesh two days after marriage in
protest against not having toilet there.
Noting that sanitation is an issue related to women's dignity and
safety, Ramesh said the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan is a people's movement aiming to
eradicate the menace of open defecation in ten years. He criticised Rajasthan
for not doing enough for providing proper sanitation facilities to the people. Pointing
out that out of 9,177 Gram Panchayats, only 321 have become open defecation
free in the states, Ramesh asked the state authorities to come out with a plan
to make the state open defecation free in five years.
Meanwhile, members of saffron outfits showed black flags to Ramesh at
various places protesting against his temple and toilet remarks. The Minister
had recently said that the country has more temples than toilets, leading to
protests by right wing Hindu outfits.
Times of India
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