Patna: Girls at a school in India’s Bihar state have taken a pledge not to waste money on buying cosmetics items or ornaments until they get a toilet at home.

They took the unique “vow” in the presence of a senior district official when the latter visited their school on Tuesday in the course of a surprise inspection.

The schoolgirls are enrolled at Girls High School, Chausa, in Buxur district, some 130km west of the state capital Patna.

The incident occurred after the official asked those students who don’t have toilets at home to raise their hands.

Many of them hesitatingly raised their hands, but the very next moment, they declared not to use cosmetics or wear ornaments until they have toilets at home, leaving the official stunned.

“Once reaching home, we will hand over our lockets to our fathers and ask to sell them if they don’t have money for constructing toilets at home,” Kumari Jyoti told the officer. She was joined by scores of other classmates such as Richa Kumari, Rabina, Khushboo and Puja Kumari who made similar announcements.

According to them, they undergo mental trauma every day since they have to go out in the open to meet nature’s call.

“We requested our parents for toilets but they didn’t our request seriously,” they said.

Senior additional district magistrate Anupam Singh said: “I was both shocked and surprised to hear such things from the girls. Shocked to know that we can’t even arrange for a toilet for our darling girls upon whom we spend a lot for their make-up. They have themselves said they wouldn’t have their make-up until they get toilets at home.”

Earlier a woman from a Bihar village had sold off her ‘mangalsutra’ (bridal necklace), while another woman had sold her only goat, to construct toilets at home, inspired by the government’s appeals help promote cleanliness.

The state government in Bihar headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar has announced to make the state free from open defecation by 2019.

According to an official report, around 16.5 million households out of over 110 million populations in Bihar currently do not have toilets in their homes as they are forced to defecate in the open.

The state government claims so far 308 villages out of 44,000 have been declared free from open defecation and the rest will have this distinction in the next few months.