Till a Toilet Keeps Us Apart

Son of a farmer,Varma was embarrassed no end,but complied with the government order and became eligible to tie the knot at a mass marriage ceremony on May 4. The toilet wala photo has become quite a talking point in this district ever since the local administration made it compulsory this year for prospective grooms to provide photographs of toilets at their homes in order to avail government assistance in marriage.

To be eligible for marriage under Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana,a popular scheme under which the state government gives financial assistance and gifts to the tune of Rs 15,000 to a couple,the grooms application must be accompanied by a photograph that proves he has a toilet at home. Though one only has to attach a photograph of the toilet with his application form,many grooms-to-be also pose with the toilets for the pictures.

The initiative has been inspired by Anita Narre,a young bride who had stormed out of her husbands home in Betul district two years ago because it did not have a toilet,and won awards for her act of defiance,then unheard-of in Madhya Pradesh where most rural homes still dont have toilets.

Ajeeb bhi laga,achcha bhi laga We found it both good and strange, says Amits cousin Mahesh of the initiative that has helped spread awareness about having toilets at home. We dont need toilets because we have a lot of open spaces around, says Amits father Babulal,admitting that the photograph that clinched his sons marriage was taken elsewhere. Clearly,people are submitting misleading photographs of toilets just to avail government help with getting married.

The government provides as much as 90 per cent subsidy for constructing a toilet and yet there are not many takers,including in Sehore. While new homes,including those that are constructed on farms,do have toilets,the rest are slowly getting used to the idea.

Sehore Collector Kavindra Kiyavat says that by linking a marriage scheme to a sanitation campaign,the government has succeeded in creating an atmosphere in favour of personal toilets. In the future,we will verify if the photograph has been taken at the place where the bride will stay.

About 1,800 couples have tied the knot in the district this year. While a similar photograph is not compulsory with the brides application,parents are not taking any chances. In several cases,the father of the bride poses next to a toilet.

Pehle ganda laga tha,par samajh me aaya ki zaroori hai We were first repelled by the requirement,but now understand it is important, says Anil Datta,who runs New Ellora Studio in Sehore. Used to clicking and printing matrimonial photographs,the images with toilets unsettled him in the beginning.

The grooms dont call photographers at home. They click the image on their phones and get them printed at the studios. They dont keep the embarassing copy at home.

Shadilal Varma,whose son Dharmendra got married on May 9 at a mass marriage ceremony in Sevania,promises to soon have a pucca toilet at his home. What passed off as a toilet with his son in the photograph is actually a bathroom!