A day after the video of Maharashtra Water Conservation Minister Ram Shinde peeing by the roadside surfaced, the Congress took a dig demanding that he be appointed as the “brand ambassador” of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for the state. The clip purportedly shows Shinde urinating by the roadside on the Solapur-Barshi road when he was travelling in his car. Shinde had said that he was unwell after spending nearly a month touring the state for the government’s flagship Jalyukta Shivar scheme and had to relieve himself in the open as he couldn’t find a toilet while travelling.
Taunting the minister, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said Shinde proved on World Toilet Day on Monday that Maharashtra has become open defecation free. “…He should be appointed as the brand ambassador for Swacch Bharat mission of the state government,” Sawant said in a statement issued here. He accused the government of patting its back on “non-existing development”.
“Earlier, Urban Development department had shown a photo of Bangkok to showcase development. Then it went on to claim how villages, which were not even included in the Jalyukt Shivar scheme, had benefitted from it,” he said. Citing the figures obtained from the RTI, Sawant said the government created only 1,624 toilets in Mumbai in the last three years and that many people still defecate in the open in the megalopolis. “The CM had announced two years back that the government will create 50,000 toilets for women in the city. Not a single toilet has been constructed as yet,” he claimed.
