Bareilly hosts beauty contest with a twist 1 5 toi5 toi4 toi3 toi2 toi1 BAREILLY: The contestants were adorned in bright yellow and pink hues, some carried balloons and others flowers. The pageant had only one round but for the judges it was a tough call to choose from 20,000 candidates. This unique ‘beauty contest’ in Bareilly had toilets as contestants and Swachhta kits in place of prize money.On the occasion of World Toilet Day on Monday, the Bareilly district administration announced winners of the contest from the participating 1,800 villages. Chandrasen from Sagalpur village under Bhojipurablock was among those whose toilet was adjudged the best of the lot. “My family had spent days decorating the toilet with garlands and balloons. We are happy not only because we won, but also since we have set an example for other residents of our village,” he said.Some people went all out and gave their lavatories a complete makeover with designer doors and new tiles. Dhakan Lal’s family, who won the contest in Biharipur village in Majhgavan block, said that they spent Rs 2,000 from their pocket to buy new tiles. His son, Hari Shankar, said, “We had received Rs 12,000 from the government to construct a toilet, but we spent an additional Rs 2,000 to make sure we had the best facility in the village.”In many cases, it was the cleanliness messages painted on toilets that ensured a win for their owners. For the contest, owners submitted pictures of their toilets which were then assessed by a team of district officials. On Monday, 15 winners were selected at the block-level and received T-shirts, while five winners were felicitated at the district-level and were awarded with T-shirts and Swachhta kits.Satyendra Kumar, chief development officer, said, “During visits to villages, we often came across toilets which were in a bad condition as basic things like plaster and paint were missing. We decided to organise a toilet contest to motivate villagers to improve quality of toilets. We have now extended the date of the contest till November 30. Villagers can send their entries and we will declare new winners on November 30.”

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