Don’t marry in to family without toilet, Ramesh tells women

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, never shy of making potentially controversial statements, on Sunday told women in a Rajasthan village that they should not marry unless the groom's house has a toilet. He cited a new slogan, "No toilet, no bride," for women to follow.

His comments come just a week or so after he remarked that there were more temples than toilets in India, and that toilets were more important than temples. Members of Hindu-oriented 'saffron' outfits waved black flags at Ramesh's various meetings on Sunday in protest against these remarks.

Addressing a gathering at Khajuri village near Kota, Ramesh said the availability of a toilet at the groom's home should be made a prerequisite to marriage. ''You consult astrologers for the suitability of a match before getting married. But you should also make sure the groom's house has a toilet. Don't get married into a house where there is no toilet," he told the audience, which largely consisted of women.

He also mooted severe punishment for any person found defecating in the open.

He also narrated an incident where a woman, Anita Narre, left her husband's house in Madhya Pradesh two days after marriage as the house had no toilet.

Ramesh criticised the Rajasthan government, which is run by his own Congress party, for failing to provide proper sanitation to the people.