@drharshvardhan - don't teach young women patriarchal values! Inaugurating the Golden Jubilee celebrations at... http://t.co/1KrQIFFU96 — Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) August 28, 2014

Harsh Vardhan, union health minister, is fast turning into BJP's Kapil Sibbal, with severe bouts of foot-in-mouth! http://t.co/oJ22g6nUet — DD Misra (@ddmisra) August 29, 2014

When will we view women outside of the goddess-whore dichotomy?"@EconomicTimes:Woman’s body is a temple:Harsh Vardhan,Union Health Minister" — Ishita Malhotra (@Ish_Malhotra) August 29, 2014

NEW DELHI: Union health minister Harsh Vardhan , who has been at the centre of many controversies recently, kicked up yet another storm on social media on Thursday with his reference to a women's body as a temple.Vardhan was speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of a women's college in the Capital when he made this reference in the context of the rising incidence of illnesses in young urban women. "A woman's body is a temple, extremely important from the perspective of a nation's future. Building a new generation of healthy women has a salutary effect on family, society and nation because each woman multitasks as professional in her chosen field, mother and teacher of her children, and, above all, custodian of collective values," he said.The statement, quite predictably, sent Twitterati into a tizzy on Thursday with users criticizing and ridiculing the medical doctor for his patronizing language."A woman's body is not a temple belonging to the nation. Her health is important for her own sake, not for 'family, society, nation', because she's not born to serve 'family, society, nation.'And why tell young women that it's natural and glorious for women to 'multitask' as professional as well as 'mother and teacher of her children' any more than for men and dads to do so?" activist Kavita Krishnan wrote in a Facebook post.The minister also observed that substance abuse and smoking among young women was on the rise. "We are concerned by the rising challenge of modern lifestyles marked by work stress on the one hand and bad eating, drinking and sleeping habits on the other. The government needs the help of social, religious, student and philanthropic groups to counter this scourge," he said.(Union health minister Harsh Vardhan)He also cautioned against slimming through excessive gym workouts and starvation routines.Vardhan has been at the receiving end of criticism over his public statements. Immediately after assuming office, he suggested that AIDS awareness messages laid too much stress on the use of condoms and not on values and fidelity. The removal of the vigilance officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who had blown the whistle on many corruptions cases in the hospital, also came in for criticism.