If you do not have a toilet at home, you will not be eligible to contest elections to urban local bodies in Maharashtra, the state government decided today.
The move comes months after Haryana, also ruled by BJP, amended the state’s Panchayati Raj Act making toilets at the homes of candidates mandatory for contesting panchayat elections.
The decision, taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, is aimed at giving an added thrust to the hygiene drive.
“The state government has made it compulsory to have toilets at candidates’ home to contest elections of local bodies,” Fadnavis said after the Cabinet meeting.
All those aspiring to enter the fray in Municipal Council and Corporation polls will have to prove that they have toilets at their homes, the Chief Minister said.
The Cabinet also decided to implement the “visionary and dream scheme” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Housing for All’ by 2022 in Maharashtra, Fadnavis said.
“This scheme covers rehabilitation of slum dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource.
“It will also cover promotion of affordable housing for weaker sections through credit linked subsidy and affordable housing in partnership with Public and Private sector and subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house for construction or enhancement,” he added.