Indian Officials Must Own Toilets

Indoor plumbing may soon be a requirement for elected officials in India.

Village council candidates in India should be allowed to stand for election only if they have a toilet at home, the rural development minister says.

In a letter to all chief ministers, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said the toilet rule should be set out in law.

He said too many elected members "do not have toilet facilities in their own houses and defecate in the open". ...

The rural development minister suggested all chief ministers make similar provisions.

"Only then can we eradicate the practice of open defecation by 2010," he says.

It's good to have a goal.