Raksha Bandhan: In Varanasi, men to compete for ‘Bhai No. 1’

Women tie to security personnel on Raksha Bandhan eve, in Allahabad on Sunday. (Source: PTI)

In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, district administration will honour 16 men with smart phones and one with a tablet computer for the best constructed toilets for their sisters on Raksha Bandhan, and also the title of “Bhai No.1” Varanasi District Panchayat Raj Adhikari Shashwat Anand Singh told The Indian Express that the administration had run an awareness programme in all eight vikas khands of the district on Friday and Saturday to make people aware of the campaign.

“Under the campaign, girls have been motivated to demand toilets as gift on Raksha Bandhan from their brothers on Monday. They will have till the end of this month to construct it to be eligible for the prize. They will also have to write down their stories to highlight why they did not have a toilet earlier, why the sister made the demand and how they ensured that the toilet was developed,” he said.  They will then have to send their story with photographs of the toilets to the district administration who will then physically verify the toilets. District level Swachh Bharat Mission committee members will select then the two best stories from each of the eight vikas khands. The date for the announcement of results is yet to be decided.

The fund for the prizes will be arranged from the budget of Swachh Bharat Mission, said Singh. The eight vikas khand in Varanasi include— Harhua, Chairaigaon, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Arajilines, Cholapur, Pindara, Sevapuri and Badagaon. There are 760 gram panchayat in these eight vikas khand.
In Amethi, at least 894 brothers have given a written affidavit to the district administration that they will marry their sisters off to only those family that have toilets in their home. The district has announced attractive cash prizes for three brothers, whose name would be selected in lucky draw, which will be organised on August 15.

Lalmani Verma

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More