Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surya Narayan Patro has triggered a controversy after he was caught urinating in the open. The photos, which went viral on social media on 2 January, shows him urinating by the roadside, and then proceeding to hop onto a car, as security guards stand near the car.
In an interview to OMMCOM NEWS, the minister reportedly defended himself by saying that the lack of urinals on the National Highway forced him to relieve himself on the roadside.
I am a diabetes patient. On my way to Bhubaneswar from Berhampur a few days back, my urge was so urgent that I asked the driver to keep the car aside a secluded spot and went amidst the bushes to relieve myself. Someone must have clicked it at that time.Surya Narayan Patro to OMMCOM News
He added that he had no intention to malign the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, but that as a diabetes patient, he needed to relieve himself several times a day. Patro asserted that while India has also initiated the process of building public toilets in short distances, the country still “had a long way to go”.
Asked about the construction of toilets in Odisha, the minister told OMMCOM News:
It is very necessary to construct public toilets for common people. But, if it’s not present, a person is bound down to go to the jungle for relieving oneself.
In July 2017, Union Agricultural Minister Radha Mohan Singh also drew flak for a similar act.
(With inputs from OMMCOM News)
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