Veiled threat in Swachh drive: ‘Want to live with your wife, get a toilet first’
Swachh authorities in Barmer have printed banners containing the message, which has been displayed at many places in the district.
Inspired by actor Akshay Kumar’s recent block buster ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’, the Barmer district administration has come up with a new tagline — “If you want to live with your wife, have a toilet first” — to promote the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The film tells the real life story of a woman who leaves her husband days after the wedding when she finds out that his home doesn’t have a toilet.
Swachh authorities in Barmer have printed banners containing the message, which has been displayed at many places in the district.
“Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is based on the issue of cleanliness and creates awareness about open defecation. It also tells people the women do not like defecating in the open and are speaking up on the issue,” said Madanlal Nehra, chief executive officer of Barmer Zila Parishad.
Nehra added that recently in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district a family court granted a woman divorce while ruling that having no toilet at home is cruelty to women.
He said that the court also termed it as a “disgrace” to society. “Our aim is to spread awareness among the people on the issue,” he added.
The Barmer district administration has recently arranged to show the movie to selected officials and public representatives of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.’ Now, the authorities are planning to arrange a show of ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ at village and block levels.
The posters printed by the Barmer district administration have a scene from the movie where Akshay is seen standing with his newly wedded wife, Bhumi Pednekar. Some poster also has a message like “Ghar mein shauchalay banwaya to beendadi aa gayee (When I built a toilet, I got a bride).”
It is mentioned here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set October 2, 2019, as the deadline for the country to become open defecation free, but Surendra Goyal, minister in-charge of the district in Barmer, taking a step forward has set a new deadline of December 31, 2017, to get the ODF tag.
However, considering the progress of Swatch Bharat Abhiyan in Barmer it seems quite impractical. Data shows that it is a distant dream for bordering district which has achieved just 25% of the target in the last three years. In such a scenario, questions are being raised as to how it will achieve the rest 75% in the next five months.