Census 2011 threw up a malodorous statistic: people in 49.8 per cent of households have no toilet facilities and defecate in the open. In contrast, 63.2 per cent of households have a telephone connection, of which 52.3 per cent have cell phones; as for televisions, almost half of the country’s households possess one. Nobody would even whisper in protest if someone, struck by this perverse anomaly, were to say that Indians needs toilets more than they do television sets and telephones. So why is there such blather over some perfectly reasonable remarks by Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh which were intended to stress that India requires more toilets than it does more temples? His suggestion that India has more temples than toilets was not part of an anti-religious tirade but a piece of hyperbole to stress the importance of sanitation in a speech to panchayat-level workers at the launch of a campaign to end open defecation. To suggest, as some have, that it was an insidious attempt to hyphenate toilets and temples in an ugly alliterative juxtaposition is rank nonsense.
In a country where politics hungrily attempts to feed off prickly religious sensitivities, Mr. Ramesh’s comments have been twisted out of context and blown out of all proportion. BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy has alleged that such comments would destroy the “fine fabric of religion and faith” and the fierce chorus of protests have led the Congress to forsake principle for expedience and distance itself from Mr. Ramesh’s remarks. Predictably, in this republic of hurt sentiments, at least one complaint has already been lodged with the police asking that a case be booked against him for outraging religious feelings — which, given the circumstances, reads like poor toilet humour. The only voice in favour of Mr. Ramesh emerged from Sulabh International, an NGO committed to the building of toilets. Organisations like these understand how vital toilets are to the well-being of India. A World Bank study conducted a couple of years ago estimated the economic impact of the lack of toilets and sanitation facilities, which it pegged at a staggering Rs. 24,000 crore annually — or 6.4 per cent of India’s GDP. This loss is created by deaths, especially of children, the cost of treating hygiene-related illnesses, losses from reduced productivity and educed tourism revenues. Open defecation is an ugly reminder of the country’s poverty and the failure of the government to provide adequate water and sanitation facilities. But it is more than a matter of shame and embarrassment — it has social and economic implications that this country can hardly afford.
Keywords: Jairam Ramesh, total sanitation campaign, sanitation in India, rural sanitation, open defecation, toilet campaign, temple-toilet row
Non availability of toilet facilities for almost half the country's population has not received as much attention as it deserved at the hands of the powers-that be as compared with the other evil of manual scavenging.Unfortunately both evils are existing.Though it is made out to be a controversial comparison,the Minister has rightly set the ball in motion.It should bestir our elected representatives and government to act in the matter on a war footing to ensure this basic necessity of the people in rural and semi urban areas.
Undoubtedly there is a need for eradication of open defecation. However the hon'ble minister as usual passes statements to catch the attention of the media. The media savvy minister is nothing but an inflated balloon and the proof is his stint as an environment minister despite all the noise he cleared the controversial projects be it posco or lavasa. may we should see the minister become a true implementer than making noise for the sake of being heard.
Author, Jairam Ramesh's message was right. But the choice of words are poor. He could have said that in more edible manner, so much so for a man holding such high office.
No one will dispute the basic amenity of having a toilet at
home and in public places where people congregate for a meeting or
social function.It is even more necessary in a temple.In this context,
Jairam Ramesh,s comments that India is having more temples than
toilets is nothing but the truth. As rural development minister he is
within his right to point out to an audience in a ruaral Panchayat is
the most appropriate form to stress such a need. Any development
activity should start at the grass root level. To intrepret it as
against religious sentiment is highly political only to exploit the
feeling of the people which does not exist prior to this protest.OUR
POLITICAL PARTIES ARE hanging on too much on religious sentiment
which should be used only at the personal level.It time that India
with 49.8% of households not having a toilet is a sad commentary on
the part of our Government. It would be wise to take the comment of
Ramesh in the right spirit and act on this area for the betterment of
our people.
The article is good to bring such an issue to light however I fail to
understand that since independence we are still struggling with the
basic amenities of life like drinking water,sanitation,hunger,poverty
to name a few and that too with a large figure.
So many government scheme and plans and all that but the result is
clearly visible.It is a shame for all of us.
Its now also that we should co-operate and find out the solution as
early as possible instead of playing blame game atleast for the sake
of all those who are suffering and for the better face of nation at
large.
Comparison between toilets and telephone lines would make sense. After all, the census
captures telephone count along with count of toilets, is it not? But why the comparison with
temples by hon'ble jairam.
Would like to remind jairam that it is proliferation of corruption in politics that is directly
responsible for lack of toilets. It is siphoning off of public money into foreign accts of these
rich and powerful that is response for non implementation of social schemes for poor.
Indeed, temples have undertaken more humanitarian work than any political party.
Well Written and highly relevant editorial, the situation requires structural changes to prevent accumulation of litter (to put it mildly). Mr. Jairam Ramesh might have made a " Swami Vivekananda" type of remark to drive home the point but could have avoided reference to Temples, could have stated places of worship. The Hindu too doesn't publish any remark against its editorial practices and applies filters but when it comes to mocking majority gladly writes editorial calling it freedom of speech. Political class and establishment paper like you take the majority for granted.
I am little bit confused about the definition of poor people.Are poor people those person who(mostly) are spending around 20% of their earning on bidi, cigarette, and wine.Are poor people those person , who are deliberately giving birth to 5 or 6 children.Being poor is not a matter of excuse or proud. Its a matter of shame. and if any person hate shame oneself will try to be better, to be rich.A peon earning 5000 rupees and a rickshawwala earning 7000 rupees, who lives better . a peon. Now the matter arises awareness,illiteracy.So called poor people are responsible for their poverty.
I will lastly say that it is too difficult to persist as a poor if someone wants to be rich.
The root problem behind this is also lack of awareness and education,if
people can buy a television set and mobile phones they can also
construct a toilet for which govt is also giving support,but people
don't know the health benefit and there is also lack of political will.
So we nave to educate people that this little investment will take many
disease burden from your family. Mr.Jayram is totally correct regarding
this matter.
Mr. Jairam Ramesh, in spite of being a cabinet minister is just doing lip service instead of taking concrete steps to correct the problem. All our print media hails his statements without understanding the problem. 1) What has he done to build convenience system for general public. When somebody lands in a new place, do we have hygienic public convenience system. Everyone cannot afford to check into a lodge for a quick bath/loo and they have no option. 2) Indian Railways is the biggest open toilet in India. What has been done by his Govt to make it hygenic and usable. 3) Toilets need water to flush and clean for it being usable. Nearly half of the country does not have water to drink and we expect them to use toilets. Guys who comment here and media houses would do better if they come out of their boardrooms understand India before making such statements. Also, push our Minister to do his part before criticizing the people.
yes there is need of more toilets in India and defecation is
national shame but how can anyone compare toilets and temples.
by doing this comparison Mr Ramesh has hurt religious sentiments
of hindus. A person of his stature should not do this.
Hindus are soft target because of there tolerance and these
types of comment on temple would only produce extremism.
And The Hindu should never try to justify these anti
religious words.
If people get a tax break out of donating to a Toilet, most of India's
'Stinking Mess' will be solved. Along with building toilets, we also
have to figure out the water problem. Imagine billions flushing toilets
all day long, every day of their lives.
Forget about individuals, country's only train network still practices this, and govt is preaching individuals!!!
This is really unfortunate to find that commitment is rewarded with a filed case. Mr. Jairam Ramesh has always been a dedicated minister and his remarks comprising worship place has been twisted and taken out of context.People should rather listen to him and help him making his works more useful for them rather than making his speech a controversy.
I see a lot of people here saying "why didn't he mention churches". Show me one squalid, pathogen infested church in the country. I am not a christian but I have visited many churches and am yet to encounter one that has not been immaculately maintained and where the worshippers do not take pride in maintaining spotless cleanliness. I hang my head in shame to think that most temples of my country present quite the opposite picture. Sorry to say but this certainly points to glaring flaws with a certain religious mindset.
Mr. Jairam Ramesh's remark purports to express an individual opinion
which is a fundamental right of an Indian citizen. Often the crux of
the matter in India gets diluted by diverting to superfluous subjects,
Consequently the point of discussion changes over to point of dispute.
Also unless and until the point is not sensationalized, it falls on
(Indian) deaf ears. I only hope this sensational news will improve the
poor sanitation situation of our country by few percentages.
Futile to expect any sensible response from any political parties of
politicians when it would harm their vote banks. They forget or
deliberately ignore the unalterable law of nature that while visit to
temples is optional and even dispensable,one or sometimes more than
one daily visits to a toilet is a compulsive necessity and so Jairam's
opinion on their relative importance is indisputable!
"Cleanliness is Godliness".Our ancestors have already built us great
temples and so what we need now is hygeinic sanitation.
Its really an appalling situation.Mr. Jairam Ramesh is a committed person to improve the sanitation in our country,the data shows the lack of awareness the people have about sanitation.If they can own telephones and television they are also capable of having a toilet but lack of awareness for sanitation is prevalent in the country.The comment of Mr. Ramesh should not be misinterpreted and politicized but we should look at the idea he wants to convey. The sanitation situation is needs improvement urgently which in turn will improve the health conditions and will reduce the Infant Mortality rate and Maternal mortality rate and as well as individuals expenditures in diseases prevailing due to poor sanitation.
The topic is very relevant and it is good to bring it up. But the comments by
Mr.Ramesh is undiplomatic and in a country like India, a person like him should have
thought before blurting it out. He could have reframed it with 'places of worship'. Do
you think ANY religious community in India would have sat back and made peace
with it if he mentioned their place of worship instead of 'temple' in this context? It
was insulting . Moreover, temples are the only religious institutions in India whose
income goes to the Government rather than to themselves.
One query - why did not Ramesh add we have more "churches, and
mosques" along with temples?! Because it would have raise a storm of protests difficult to control and pacify ! Only Hindu place of worship mentioned, in his over-enthusism sure ! He could as well have quoted the findings stated in editorial - more cell phones, more TVs etc than toilets - sorry he went off board ! All know many of the TVs given under subsidy HAVE BEEN SOLD to shops at big prices for CASH flow - cell phones most use, yes. All privileges given okay, IF we can ENSURE it serves the need and not greed !!
Well written editorial.What stinks more is not the minister's comment
but the failure of the Indian political class in not addressing the
serious issues of personal hygiene and health of the aam admi and
taking efforts to provide them barest minimum facility for a healthy
living.It is a greater national shame and embarrassment that the
situation has not changed even a bit after 60years of independence.Go
to any bus stand and temple to see for yourself how these precincts
are defecated and turned into open toilets.What is the end result of
education,so called cultural development when people can't proper
training to desist from these stinking habits?
Mr Ramesh' intents might be correct but he used the wrong words. And mind you that using right words is very much part of a healthy public life. So atleast Mr Ramesh failed on this count.
And congress has ruled for 60 years after independence. While it always used the right words it never had the right intent and the results are for all to see.
I fear that now we have a case of incorrect words coupled with incorrect intents!
Open defecation is certainly a serious problem. The bigger problem is
maintaining it after they are constructed. Any traveller will testify
to this. At the cost projected, if we had no scams may be we could
have had a toilet for each of us.
One word of caution though. Let the authorities in their zeal to
provide toilets convert all the foot paths to one.
Regards,
Ravi
In general we are poor in differentiating necessity, comfort, luxury.
Of course with change in one's status / position these things change.
In this we follow earlier village culture - people were less that
time, open area / water availability was more; now the same culture
makes problem. Even our planners and rulers have never acknowledged
this as a problem area. Even for drinking water, many are struggling
- toilet is related to water in our country - there is no point in
blaming people alone. Where are rivers, canals, lakes, ponds of the
past. Mere speech, statement by politicians cannot solve this. Jairam
Ramesh should have made such comments in Cabinet meetings and should
have done to correct the thing - rather than the customary public
utterances. If he has mentioned Churches / mosques, what would have
happened. Private / public talk are different. More than reason,
correctness, tempers and ego only decide things nowadays in every
field.
What Jairam Ramesh said is absolutely true. I would go a step further and say that many temples in India don’t have any toilet facilities on the premises. Those who are offended by the minister’s remark will be endearing themselves to God if they organize a campaign to provide toilet facilities near all temples. They owe it God to keep His dwelling place clean. Worshipers don’t mean any disrespect to God if they, unable to hold it any longer, ease themselves on temple premises. Haven’t these puritans who are railing at the minister come across such a scene? Or haven’t they found themselves in that situation? Facts have to be faced, no matter how stinking they are.
It shows our priority that PM is excited about FDI in aviation , retail etc. and has an special address to nation but for a far more important matter to half the population specifically the weaker half, he or his other cabinet members do not feel the need to increase the awareness for such basic health issues that are life threatning ( cholera, typhoid, jaundice, malaria kill more people). India's development seems to have been hijacked by a top quintile population that has lost the concern for the larger and economically weaker group who happens to be
majority.
Need to have real debate on priorities for next decade to provide a more inclusive growth
and not just more of crony capitalism!
The controversy kicked up by the self styled custodians of Hindu
culture brings to my memory an article written by I.S.Johar in
Illustrated Weekly of India in which he states that in all our
heritage structures like forts, palaces and other structures we find
the Dewan-I-Khas, Dewan-I-Aam, lavish bath rooms and bed rooms but no
latrines implying that ours has been a gutter culture since time
immemorial. From that time till this day we have condemned a section
of the population to manual scavenging and our mindset has not
changed. Because of this mindset policy makers in this country do not
take the task of modernizing sanitation and provide hygienic living
conditions to the entire population seriously. In the meetings of
resident welfare association of the area where I live most of the
members are more aggrieved about the absence of a temple in the
locality rather than the necessity to fight for the underground
drainage system. In any city or town we find temples encroaching road
space obstructing traffic, sometimes leading to accidents but no
cleanly maintained wash rooms. The efforts of Sulabh in this regards
is really appreciable. When this is the sad situation it is really
heartening to note that at least there is one union minister committed
to change the abysmal sanitary situation in the country which makes us
to hang our head in shame in international forums. What he said is the
true fact. The cold fact of sixty percent of world population deprived
of toilet facility living in India should hurt our sentiments and not
jairam Ramesh’s statement.
There is no doubt that India needs more toilets as also more quality public amenities in many areas. But while expressing concern, there is an accepted genteelism. In these days, one is expected to be sensitive even while reprimanding children. A high level of diplomacy is required from persons holding responsible positions. Such a tongue-in-cheek style comment will naturally get brickbats. Ramesh's insensitivity has been displayed in many other occassions too. In a country where faith is highly valued, Ramesh's comparison is certainly condemnable.
Shortage of toilets is well known to all except Chief of Planning Commission which plans and allocates funds for improving state of affairs for common man. Unfortunately, Montek Singh who spent Rs 35 lakhs for his exclusive toilet in his office at the cost of public money does not realise Rs 30 lakhs will build 'common toilets' in all the villages of one district in any state. Mr Jairam Ramesh should advise his cabinet colleague on this aspect in front of Manmohan Singh.instead of advising Hindus to build toilets instead of temples. He must know that temples were not built by government but toilets are the responsibilty of the government.
The lack of toilet facility especially in rural/semi urban areas and urban slums is a well known historical fact. Crores of Rupees had been
given to our law makers as MPLAD for many years.These elected
representatives, irrespective of their intellectual attainments and
academic accomplishements, are well aware of the lack of hygenic
environment to attend to the calls of nature, to the most vulnerable
sections of the society whose causes they swear to serve. If only
every MP receiving MPLAD funds had spent a sizable part of the funds
to building toilets in their constituencies, our healthcare spend
would have drastically come down, manual scavanging would have been
put an end to and the dignity of every human being would have been
protected. No data on such spending has been made public. Without any
such a focused attention and quick remedial measures, there is no use
comparing the incomparables that was bound to raise heckles and howls
of protest and produce negative results!
Absolutely. I completely agree. Open defecation is a shame to this country. It needs to be eradicated but there is no constitutional or political will to do so.
The fact that half the number of households in our country have no toilets does deserve an
editorial and The Hindu has rightly written one. But a minister's ugly statement on the subject
need not have been included in it.
It is really a national shame due to insensitivity of our society to
such appalling living condition of the hapless poor.
Unfortunately, the politicians leave no opportunity to raise vote bank
politics by fanning religious or other issues, digressing from such
vital areas of public concern.
There is no answerability for the resource allocation priority wise
and political expediency determines the frittering away of the tax
payers money. It is criminal to spend money in building monuments
when masses have no toilets. A national prioritization committee of
experts should make it mandatory for the governments to spend certain
percentage of revenue in basic necessities like sanitation, primary
health , primary education and other basic infra structures to ensure
safe drinking water and other basic needs.With the compulsions of our
electoral politics , it will be naive to expect any better fiscal
discipline in our country
"A stinking mess" is a superb editorial. The peculiar situation in the country, wherein a sizeable section of the citizens not having even basic amenities like lavaatories in their houses are found to be very proud owners of television sets and mobile phones, is something like people opting to wear turbans when they do not have a piece of cloth to cover the rest of their body. The Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's remarks have certainly been taken out of context and a needless controversy created. Many a time, picking holes or finding fault with others has become a pastime for some. Unfortunately, this unwelcome practice is very much in vogue in present-day politics.
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