Thaindian News

Bhopal, Jan 15 (IANS) Efforts to rid the state of all obscene posters and hoardings as per Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s instructions are underway in Madhya Pradesh, officials said Friday.
“A model act in this connection is being prepared and it will be put up before the state cabinet for approval after examination by the law department,” an official of the Urban Administration department, who did not wished to be identified, told IANS.

Irked over the display of a spa massage hoarding put up by a local beauty salon near a girls college here in the state capital, Chouhan had Monday asked the Municipal Corporation authorities to get all such hoardings removed.

The chief minister was passing through the college route when he saw the hoarding.

After the chief minister’s ire, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) lodged a first information report (FIR) with the local police against the beauty parlour over the hoarding which portrayed a female model in a vulgar pose.

BMC Commissioner Manish Singh immediately convened a meeting of the owners and directors of publicity agencies and warned them of legal action in case such hoardings or posters were put up by them in future.

“Later Thursday, Chouhan asked the Urban Administration department to launch a campaign to remove all obscene and objectionable posters and hoardings from across the state and prepare a model act in this regard,” the official said.

Meanwhile, taking a cue from Chouhan’s action, Hindu rightwing activists have also asked the shopkeepers here to remove hoardings advertising lingerie and cover up mannequins showcasing women’s undergarments.

“Any hanging of underwear publicly will not be tolerated,” Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, the convener of the Sanskriti Bachao organisation, said.

“If display of undergarments - male or female - is not stopped by Sunday, we will light a bonfire of the lingerie,” Tiwari threatened.