Building schools sans toilets

Our governments abdicate constitutional responsibility of providing basic need of education. We build schools but forget about toilets. Nobody tells the government that girls do not join schools because there are no toilets for them. If there are, they don’t work. The figures of AP and Telangana show a baffling picture of school toilets. Of 45,714 schools, 9,114 do not have toilets for girls, 19,275 schools are without boys’ toilets and in 8,329 schools girls’ toilets are dysfunctional. Thus we can calculate to say that only 7,439 schools have toilets for both girls and boys.

The law makers make law and impose upon themselves several obligations. As per Right of Children to Primary and Compulsory Education Act, it is the avowed duty of state to provide infrastructure to keep all boys and girls of school going age in schools. Besides classrooms, toilets are essential, lack of which can drive children out to trouble, labour and risk of criminal attacks. Karnataka is better than other states as they have only 12 schools without girls’ toilets and with 30 dysfunctional toilets for girls. Next is Gujrat in constructing toilets in schools. The picture is no different in other states. (See the table based on a report published in newspapers with 2013-14 statistics)

Our public works engineers are great! They plan school buildings without toilets. If toilet is not part of the building plan of a school, why should we have engineers and planning for it? It is not only public schools there are several thousands of private schools without any or proper or working toilets. Who will monitor it? A proper programme with all states should be worked out by the center. Modi’s project of Swach Bharath by 2019 to free India from open defacation should be a dream possible provided a perfect roadmap is made. It requires 800 million toilets, with at least 20 million every year.

The NGO Sulabh has done some good work which should be converted into a national scheme to address the biological need of the entire population either at home or in public places. This NGO constructed toilets in Kabul which gave women privacy in public spaces. Persons disabled in landmines could utilise ramps in toilets. Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaaki praised Japan’s toilets as places of spiritual repose. Its aesthetics impressed him.

Railway’s contribution
Indian Railways is a unique and gigantic organisation in the world but its toilets throw the human refuse all over the country spreading disease. Indian trains did not have toilets in the beginning. After a passenger wrote his pathetic experience they were introduced (see the box). Now Railway is planning to incorporate biotoilets in all trains. It is their duty to do it.

Who is responsible?
More than lack of money the lack of will is responsible for unabated public urination and public defacation in our civilised society. After 67 years of freedom the women have to wait till dusk to go out with lota for biological need, when some men satiate their criminal biological greed. We speak about basic right to education but the girl child does not join the school for lack of toilets. Unhesitatingly the men use streets and roads to urinate indicating lack of such facilities in reach. The civilised India still suffers with these stinking manners and etiquette regarding the natural and biological pressures. Indeed, PM Narendra Modi shocked people by speaking of cleanliness and the need to build toilets from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Thanks for bringing this basic issue into debate.

Crime
Defacation and urination in public are not specific crimes in India. However, if administration has a will, they can be punished for ‘public nuisance’. Since 15th August 1947 and 26th January 1950, when the Constitution of India commenced, the governments did not think of environmental damage due to public defacation and about the dignity of men and most important, dignity of women.

It is not just the question of environment or personal dignity it is the constitutional obligation of state to provide security to women and education to girls. The ‘toilet’ is the central point of these duties and dignities.

Who will Clean India?
PM announced launch of a `clean India` campaign from 2nd October for 4 years. The toilet building in all schools in the country with separate toilets for girls was aimed at. This is a good beginning. P V Narasimha Rao was one Prime Minister with great concern for welfare of ‘safai karmachari’, those who are engaged in cleaning the toilets. Necessity of toilets was not considered by any Government so far. Modi asked MPs to spend their MPLAD funds for construction of toilets. Even if they spent entire money on it may not answer the needs completely. The nation looks forward to the center for that day where there will be no school in India without separate toilets for boys and girls.

Former Chief Engineer of AP Dharma Rao developed a model toilet with a low cost of Rs 15,000 using pre-fabricated polls and shutters coupled with mechanism of converting human refuse into organic fertiliser and urine into urea. Such programmes should be taken up by the states and center. This programme will surely improve health conditions in villages, small towns and even cities with slums.