Congress and BJP leaders today pitched for checking open defecation, contending that besides availability of toilets, the change of people's mindset is also needed to tackle the unhealthy practice.
Participating in the two-day India Today conclave here, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who had stirred a controversy by his remarks that India needed more toilets not temples, said he had succeeded in starting a debate over the matter.
He said there was a need to educate people on the link between sanitation and health issues like malnutrition, something which various governments have failed to do.
"We can be the most spiritual country in the world but what good is this if 60 per cent of our women defecate in open," Ramesh said.
He said the rural India has become more aware about the issue but problem still remains as it was discovered recently that many toilets made from government loan were used as go-downs while people still defect in open.
Participating in the discussion, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said spirituality and cleanliness are not something mutually exclusive but complement each other.
His government, he said, has launched several schemes to deal with the matter.
BJP leader Uma Bharti said there was never a second opinion about importance of toilets but added that "toilet vs temple" debate is mischievous and irrelevant.
She, though, praised Ramesh and lauded his work as Minister.
Bharti said lack of toilets is a major problem in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and there should be strict regulations in place to ensure that all homes and shops have toilets.
World Toilet Organisation Founder Jack Sim said, "What is required is to make the idea of having toilets fashionable in a same way as people feel about owning some luxury brand products."
"There is a tendency to not talk about shit. And what you do not talk about do not improve," he said, arguing for involving celebrities and making toilets "desirable".
