In an order passed on 27 January 2015, the Supreme Court took the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to task on the poor condition of the toilets in schools. Two reports had been submitted to the Supreme Court by a Committee headed by Mr. Ashok Gupta, senior advocate, which had expressed its dissatisfaction with regard to the state of the toilets in the schools. It was submitted that though there are structures relating to the toilets, yet there has to be continuous maintenance to make them acceptable.
A bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant passed this order in a contempt petition in a writ petition filed by Mr. J.K. Raju. The Supreme Court observed as under:
“…it can be said without any fear of contradiction that a toilet in structure only is not a toilet in reality. Toilets meant for schools, which are co-educational and the girls’ schools have to have such toilets which are clean and acceptable having proper facilities. The States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which are in focus, in this case for the present, cannot have innovative ideas to construct a structure, christen it as a toilet and thereafter forget it from their memory. That is not the purpose of providing toilets in the schools. It has to be borne in mind by the Authorities of the two States that clean and safe toilets also help in sustaining the health conditions of the students who use it.”
The Court directed framing of a scheme in this regard which will have to be filed before it in four weeks. The next date of hearing is on 10 March 2015, when the Secretaries to the Government, School Education Department of both the States (i.e., Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) have been directed to remain present personally.
The full order passed by the Supreme Court can be seen here.
