Patna, Nov. 24: Come February 2016, no one will be able to contest panchayat elections in the state without having functional toilets at home.

The state panchayati raj department has set a January 31, 2016 deadline by when those planning to contest panchayat election should construct toilets at their homes. The dates of the multi-phase elections to panchayat bodies will be announced in February

The issue related to implementation of the new toilet rule cropped up at a review meeting presided over by state election commissioner Ashok Kumar Chauhan today. The meeting, at which all district panchayati raj officers and in-charge deputy collectors were present, discussed at length about the measures to ensure free, fair and peaceful polls and other related issues.

Though Chauhan evaded questions on implementations of the toilet rule in the panchayat polls, a senior official of the panchayati raj department said it had been made mandatory for all the candidates to have toilets at home. The government has already brought about amendments in the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act for the purpose, he clarified.

He added: "The move was aimed at ensuring proper sanitation in rural areas. As per the rule, the candidates would have to submit a self-certified statement that there is a functional toilet at his/her residence. Such a provision has been made for the first time in the state so far as the panchayat elections are concerned."

Aspirants have noted the deadline fixed by the department. "I have asked my husband to complete the construction work of the toilet by the end of December," said Manju Devi, panch of Sultanpur panchayat in Samastipur district. Manju, who was elected in 2011, was supported by ward member Dilip Singh, who also recently invested a little over Rs 12,000 to construct a toilet at home.

Manju added that hardly 30-40 per cent households in Mohiuddin block's Sultanpur panchayat in Samastipur district have toilets. As a result, majority of the residents, including women, have to answer nature's call in the open. Devendra Rai, a former mukhiya of Davaichh panchayat in Vaishali district, also hailed the government move.

The elections for the three-tier panchayati raj institutions in the state are due in April-May 2016.