Toilet should be constitutional right for every woman: Jairam Ramesh

Vigorously pushing the agenda of sanitation, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said "toilet should be a constitutional right" for every woman while slamming the common Indian mindset that open defecation is "a birthright".

"Toilet is a fundamental right for every woman....for her privacy, her dignity...every school must have a toilet, every Anganwadi must have a toilet, every home must have a toilet.

"We will not give money under Indira Awas Yojana unless you build the toilet. We are making toilets compulsory...It should be a constitutional right," Ramesh told reporters here.

He was speaking after reviewing Kerala's progress in sanitation with state ministers and officials here.

The Minister termed as "an Indian characteristic" the practice of open defecation and said there is no change in this attitude whether it is a progressive states or BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) states.

"There is no BIMARU-non BIMARU. Open defecation is there in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and all over. Open defecation is an Indian characteristic, not a BIMARU characteristic.

"It is always like that open defecation is my birth right....I am entitled to it. You have to change the midset," he said.

Noting that the country accounts for almost 60 percent of open defecations in the world, Ramesh also asked the political class to include sanitation in their agenda to bring about social reform in this sector.