Backlash in rural India over rubber penis in family planning kit

Maharashtra government criticised over prop for health workers to demonstrate how to put on a condom

A rubber penis that health workers are using as part of a family planning kit to demonstrate how to put on a condom has sparked anger in rural India, where sex remains a taboo subject.

Some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) have demanded that the kits be withdrawn and an apology offered to the health workers. One BJP state legislator, Chitra Kishor Wagh, said the Maharashtra government, which introduced the kit, has lost its mind". His colleague, Akash Bhundkar, wanted the government to apologise to the health workers for the embarrassment" it had caused them.