After Ganga clean up, rivers will also start calling for 'Me too': Bharti

After the mission to clean Ganga and Yamuna is completed, other rivers within the country and world would give a call for 'Me Too', Union minister Uma Bharti said Wednesday.

She told reporters there should no hindrance to the flow of river and women.

The #MeToo movement is against sexual harassment and sexual assault which spread on social media. It has taken India by storm and is currently raging after names of several personalities across different professions cropped up.

Referring to a government notification on the minimum environmental flow for Ganga that has to be maintained at various locations on the river, Bharti said unless the problems of one of the world's largest water body are understood, its woes cannot be addressed.

"This is an important development happening in the country to save the rivers. It will start for Ganga, Yamuna and then rivers within the country and outside will give a call #MeToo, which means please start the movement for me too.

"Nitin ji (Gadkari) has started this programme and all rivers will start saying #MeToo. Even we want such a notification," she said.

"There should not be any hindrance to the flow of river and women. This is the pledge that is being taken today," Bharti said.

Gadkari was also present at the press conference.

When asked about his reaction on M J Akbar, a minister of state in the External Affairs Ministry, who has been named in an alleged sexual misconduct by several journalists, Gadkari declined to give any reaction.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday had refused to answer a question on the allegations against her junior minister.