Jairam sanitation remark draws flak from women
Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh appears to have set off a controversy with his remark, that “women demand mobile phones but not toilets”. Prominent women slammed the minister for making the remark.
Madhu Kishwar, a senior academician, in a sharp reaction said, “May be it (the remark) could be true for women that Jairam knows.”
She, however, added that there is no contradiction in having clean toilets and mobile phones.
Ms Kishwar also termed the statement of the minister as ridiculous for having singled out women only for the poor sanitation conditions in the country. “He (Mr Ramesh) is a master in making sensational statements. Had he spent five minutes thinking about the issue, he would not have made the comment,” added Ms Kishwar.
Another prominent personality, Ranjana Kumari, who heads the Centre for Social Research, also took exception to the remark of the Union minister. “Why is he (Mr Ramesh) blaming women for poor sanitation conditions in the country. Is it not the responsibility of the government to ensure good sanitation facilities. If India accounts for 60 per cent of the world population going for open defecation, it’s not women who should be blamed,” Ms Kumari said.
A woman Delhi court judge, who did not wanted to be officially quoted, said that she will give a befitting reply to the minister in some of her future judgments.
Ms Nivedita Menon, professor of political science in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), too slammed the comment by the minister. “I hesitate to comment that what’s wrong in having both mobilephones and toilet facilities. I would rather question the kind of democracy we have that women need to choose between mobile phones and toilets,” Ms Menon said.
Noted novelist Arundhati Roy said that she would react once she goes through the statement of Mr Ramesh and the context in the media.
Post new comment