"Women demand mobile phones, they are not demanding toilets... Sanitation is the much more difficult issue," said the Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh at the launch of Asia-Pacific Regional Millenium Development Goals Meet.
His loose comment may have left many uncomfortable and may also have forced him to offer subsequent explanations, but the fact of the matter is sixty percent of people practice open air defecation in a country which has 700 million mobile phones.
Women demanding toilets are far and few and may appear as headlines. In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, tribal woman Anita Nrrae’s insistence on having a toilet at her in-law’s place had not only compelled her husband to take up the issue with the panchayat at his village but also made Sulabh International adopt Anita’s village for its “Total Cleanliness Drive”.
But it is not a paradox as Mr Ramesh says. There is a difference between a need and a want. A need is something you have to have. A want is something you would like to have. That's basic concept of economics. . A child needs to have proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. But it wants to have toys and ice cream. Do we blame the child and shame it in public or give him what he needs?
Does the State need to perceive the needs of the people or blame the people for not realizing their needs? Whose responsibility is it anyway?
Now that the we have had all this shit... we should now demand for toilets to flush it down !!
His loose comment may have left many uncomfortable and may also have forced him to offer subsequent explanations, but the fact of the matter is sixty percent of people practice open air defecation in a country which has 700 million mobile phones.
Women demanding toilets are far and few and may appear as headlines. In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, tribal woman Anita Nrrae’s insistence on having a toilet at her in-law’s place had not only compelled her husband to take up the issue with the panchayat at his village but also made Sulabh International adopt Anita’s village for its “Total Cleanliness Drive”.
But it is not a paradox as Mr Ramesh says. There is a difference between a need and a want. A need is something you have to have. A want is something you would like to have. That's basic concept of economics. . A child needs to have proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. But it wants to have toys and ice cream. Do we blame the child and shame it in public or give him what he needs?
Does the State need to perceive the needs of the people or blame the people for not realizing their needs? Whose responsibility is it anyway?
Now that the we have had all this shit... we should now demand for toilets to flush it down !!
