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Mr Montek Ahluwalia And Public Toilets

By Vidyadhar Date

08 June, 2012
Countercurrents.org

Some people have rushed to the rescue of Mr Montek Ahluwalia, deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, saying he is being unfairly and personally targeted for the excessive expenditure on the new plush toilets in his office in New Delhi. All right. But then it gets worse if you see the expenditure in the context of the sanitation scenario in the country.

The fact is half of people in India still defecate in the open in the absence of toilets. This revelation has come from none other than a member of the Planning Commission, Mr Mihir Shah, earlier this year. One has seldom heard Mr Montek talk about this crucial issue which affects the health, morale and dignity of the common people.

This denial of basic amenities is a kind of class war against the poor if you look at it. Mike Davis, the foremost writer on urban issues, is very specific on the issue. In the United States they are actually removing toilets for the poor and he says in his book City of Quartz.This puts the issue in the frontline in the war on the poor.

In the U.K. too they are closing down public toilets drawing protests from activists like Rose George, author of the book Big Necessity – the unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters. This is sad because Victorian England was the pioneer in the construction of public toilets, and some very beautiful ones at that.

John Ruskin, the eminent art critic of the 19th century , declared that a clean sewer was far more preferable to the most beautiful painting of Madonna.

The authorities deny funds for the most basic amenities for the poor and then seek to victimise them for not having these amenities. When he was Maharashtra’s water supply and water conservation minister a few years ago Ajit Pawar sent shock waves among sensitive people with his announcement that those lacking a toilet in their houses will be denied the right to contest election to the gram panchayat or the panchayat samiti.

Mr Ajit Pawar’s announcement was disturbing because it clearly amounted to discrimination against the poor. He said it does not cost much to construct a toilet .But cost is highly relative. Mr Pawar belongs to a family which by its own admission owns assets worth hundreds of crores of rupees. What is a ridiculously low amount for him would be beyond the reach of many people in Maharashtra . The state, it must be emphasized ,is poor, despite all the talk about progress, industrialization and globalisation. The ruling class will deny the extent of poverty because cannot face the harsh truth and the contradiction between its own affluence and the poverty of ordinary people.

When the Shiv Sena and BJP triumphantly assumed power at a public ceremony at Shivaji Park in 1995 Mr Bal Thackeray made a highly pertinent announcement. He declared that one of the priorities of the new government would be to construct toilets in rural areas to save the womenfolk, especially, the indignity of lack of privacy. The announcement made far more sense than the scheme of free housing for slum dwellers which was clearly oriented towards the builder lobby. But the toilet scheme made no progress.

But then even a solitary and filthy toilet near Shiv Sena Bhavan was recently demolished as part of the increasing gentrificatgion of the area. Thousands of people who throng the nearby Shivaji Park ground and other areas now have nowhere to go. This happens because the politicians have now embraced a five star culture for themselves while being contemptuous of ordinary people.. The Sena was the first to imbibe it. All its meetings of leaders are held in five star hotels. It began this trend.

There is also a lot of hypocrisy, elitism and there are double standards. The historic, building of the Bandra suburban railway station in Mumbai was recently beautified at considerable expense as part of heritage conservation.But toilet facilities are in a disgraceful shape. For women there is just one single toilet seat and many stand in a queue outside. And this in a front line station, the gateway to the elite Bandra Kurla complex, the new, high rise financial and business district. Its surroundings are also very filthy though the area is close to the residence of Mr Thackeray and the office of the metropolitan authority. Actually, far more facilities should be provide to women because their bodies require more time than men.

It is not only that the system is not delivering. It is depriving the people of whatever few assets they have. Bushes and trees in the countryside are the little assets the poor have. This not only provides them some fuel but also shelter in the absence of toilets. Now, even this little shelter is being taken away with mindless tree cutting which goes on so brazenly even in cities despite all watchdogs and activist citizens. So, the poor have nothing to hide their shame. It is not that the poor are dirty and have no sense of shame. . The fact is the poor have no option.

Maharashtra’s former deputy chief minister R.R. Patil earnestly ran a cleanliness drive in villages in memory of Sant Gadge Maharaj who went about cleaning streets himself with a broomstick. If anyone touched his feet, he would hit that person with a broomstick and ask the person instead to do his job properly, observe cleanliness, and not touch his feet. . In stark contrast, many politicians expect people to fall at their feet. Mr Patil is one of the more honest politicians though his recent actions against slum dwellers and dance bar girls have evoked criticism.

Politicians and businesspersons used to be embarrassed by the sight of people sitting in the open along the road from the airport to Mumbai city some years ago because this happened in full view of visitors from abroad. Now, the authorities have removed the poor from much of the driveway. But the sanitation scenario remains scandalous in most parts of the state and the country.

Public toilets are woefully inadequate even in Mumbai and the situation is particularly deplorable for women so much so that several civic groups have launched a signature campaign seeking more toilets for women. And even the few that exist are badly designed. For men, the urine pots are put too high for the height of the average Indian male . In fact, this is a countrywide problem and the toilets even in architecture colleges fall in this category. I have observed in Mumbai that toilets are suitably designed only in a few places like the American Center , the British Council, Nehru planetarium and five-star hotels. There is also a beautifully designed toilet in the Kolhapur palace and museum complex. But otherwise, there is virtually no consideration for the needs of people, especially children, as if children do not exist at all or do not need to go to the toilet. .

And this is happening in the land of Mahatma Gandhi who laid so much emphasis on cleanliness and he devised a whole architecture of environment-friendly latrines which would require little water and would convert the waste into manure. One of his most imaginative ideas was to make sure that he and other residents of the ashram cleaned the latrines.. This was not only a physical act, it also purified the mind, made oneself humble and helped shed one’s ego.

Vidyadhar Date is a senior journalist. [email protected]



 


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