Patna,(BiharTimes): The state cabinet on Tuesday relaxed the criteria of mandatory toilets at the homes for candidates contesting the coming elections to rural and urban local bodies. The Bihar State Panchayati Raj Act, 2006 had made it compulsory for a candidate in the local bodies poll to have a toilet at home as an eligibility criteria.
Elections for rural and urban bodies were held in 2006 and 2007 and again on 2011 and 2012 under this criteria.
The rural local bodies election in Bihar is scheduled for next month.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi welcomed the state government’s decision. He said that his party had earlier made this demand.
However, he added that 1.6 families in Bihar still have no toilets, which exposed the failure of the Bihar government.
Interestingly, the norm of toilet at homes was laid down in 2006 when the JD(U) and BJP were jointly in power.