Alwar women watch Akshay’s film, vow to have toilet at home
This is the first time that more than 250 women of Thanagazi block in Alwar district have seen a cinema hall. They watched ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ on Monday evening and after the film, these women spoke to the district collector, Rajan Vishal assuring him that they will ensure every house in the area has a toilet when they go back to their villages.
The film viewing was organised by an NGO working in the Thanagazi block for the last three years for raising awareness in women about social issues. These women could relate with the situation shown in the movie as most of them go out in the open to defecate, exposing themselves to several health issues.
Suman Saini from this locality said that this society is concerned with our ghunghat (veil) but not with open defecation. “We have to remain under the veil all the time but people don’t think defecating in the open is also wrong,” she said. Krishna Sharma, another woman from the area, said, “Women face the ordeal of defecating in the open every day. Construction of toilets should be a priority in the households.”
After their interaction with the district collector, Vishal said that the Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar starring film sends across a very important social message. “We wanted these women to watch the film because if it could inspire even half of them, our purpose would be successful. I hope we will soon hear about real stories like the one shown in the film in our villages and town where women would force their husbands to construct toilets,” he said.
Founder director of Vasudha Jan Vikas Sansthan, Mona Sharma said that women who don’t have a toilet at home were selected for the film screening. “All of them watched a film on the big screen for their first time in their lives. Some of them even felt a little uneasy in the cinema hall but our purpose was to inspire them and to motivate their families to construct toilets,” she said.
Thanaghazi block has 36 gram panchayats out of which only three are ODF.