Indian woman rewarded with Rs 5 lakhs for revolting against lack of toilet

Anita Bai, a newly wed bride and a resident of a tribal village in Madhya Pradesh, won an award of Rs 5 lakhs for revolting against lack of toilets at her in-law’s house. The cash award was announced by Sulabh International, which is an NGO for environmental sanitation, who described her act as ‘Revolutionary of a different kind’.

Anita ran away from her in-law’s place on the first night of her wedding so as to pressure the lack of toilet there. Bindeshwar Pathak the founder of Sulabh International appreciated the revolt by Anita and announce the cash price.

Pathak said that by revolting on the non availability of toilet, the rural woman has created a revolutionary action in India where more than 660 million people still defecate in open, which causes serious diseases. Anita returned to her father’s place, despite repeated assurances by her in-laws to provide a toilet.

But she came back to her in-law’s place only when her husband managed to construct a toilet within a week with the help of the Gram Panchayat.