Rate of rape came down in many states after Modi government's emphasis on building toilets in villages: Patra

NEW DELHI: The rate of rape has come down in many states following the Modi government's emphasis on building toilets in villages, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Sunday.

Addressing a programme at the Delhi BJP office here, Patra outlined the achievements of eight years of the BJP government at the Centre.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visits to girls' schools and interactions with women realised that the dropout rate of girl students was higher than boys.

Research showed that it was because there were no toilets in schools, Patra said.

He said most of the rapes happened when women in rural areas used to go out to attend nature's call in the dark.

A toilet is connected to many aspects, including dignity and health, Patra said and added, "In many states, the rate of rape has come down because the prime minister gave women 'izzatghar' (toilet).

" Patra said no one had ever imagined that a prime minister could talk about toilets while addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort but Modi did.

"Modi is the first prime minister in the world who talked about toilets," he said.

Currently, over six lakh villages in the country have become open defecation free, he said.

Citing the Modi government's scheme of 'Jan Dhan' accounts through which 20 crore women were provided financial help during the COVID-19 pandemic, Patra said they are the largest block of the category of "silent voters" who vote for Modi.

In the last eight years of the Modi government a new word, "beneficiary", has been added to the political discourse.

Earlier, the governments were formed on the basis of caste and religion of voters and dynastic politics but now beneficiaries decide who will come to power, he said.

Patra also trained guns at the Congress and the AAP over the issue of corruption.

"In just 15 days after the AAP came to power in Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal had to remove a minister due to corruption, while in eight years of the Modi government there is no charges of corruption of even a single penny against any cabinet minister at the Centre."

As compared to "scams" of previous government at the Centre, the Modi government is known for coming out with unique schemes for development and welfare, he said.

This change from "scam to scheme" is a big change that has happened in eight years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and everyone needs to support his endeavour to make India a world leader, Patra added.