The UP government has clarified that there is no official order on it
Since Yogi Adityanath of the BJP took charge as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, saffron has been the state's theme colour.
First the Chief Minister's office in Lucknow turned from white to saffron. So did the walls of the Haj House, which reverted back to white. Government-run buses also got a saffron makeover.
Now, it is toilets, that too at a village in Etawah, the home turf of Yogi Adityanath's predecessor Akhilesh Yadav. "We should also adapt to the colour," shrugged Ved Pal, the head of the village, where 100 government-funded toilets have already turned saffron.
Some 350 toilets are being built in the village under the central government's Swachh Bharat Mission. The residents got together and took the decision on Monday, claims the chief.
"There was a meeting. I asked the people what colour the toilet walls should be painted. A lot of them said white gets dirty too soon. Then someone mentioned saffron. I think it was a good choice because when the government at both the centre and the state is saffron in a way," Ved Pal told NDTV.
Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who lost power to saffron-robed priest-politician Yogi Adityanath last year, could not resist a dig. "Imagine people will go into a saffron-coloured bathroom. Isn't the colour considered holy? Whose insult will this be? I think this is a government that encourages insults and such thoughts," he said.
The Uttar Pradesh government has clarified that there is no official order and the loo colour has nothing to do with them. "There is no government order. The village head must have got it coloured. There are no verbal or written orders. If people like the saffron colour and it helps them inculcate sanitation habits, then it should be welcomed," said Ram Baran Singh, the district Panchayati Raj officer.