Stop constructing public toilets in rural govt schools: Minister

LUCKNOW UP’s basic education minister Satish Dwivedi has ordered an immediate ban on the practice of constructing public toilets in rural government schools in the state.

The minister said it had come to light that public toilets being constructed by the Panchayati Raj department in rural areas are, in many cases, being constructed in primary and upper primary schools.

“I have been receiving lots of complaints from people, students and teachers that at the local level toilets are being constructed in primary and upper primary school campuses. I wish to make it absolutely clear that this won’t be allowed and would have to be immediately stopped,” the minister said.

“Use of toilets by people outside the school would put the academic community to great inconvenience. Moreover, this would give rise to another problem. After school hours, the toilets won’t be available for use by villagers. Hence, we have decided to order an immediate ban on such construction,” he said.

The minister has warned that strict action would be initiated against gram pradhans who flout the directive.

At several places gram pradhans had thought of the move to construct toilets in school campuses as a win-win situation aimed at addressing the problem of lack of adequate toilets in villages as well as in rural schools too. Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the UP government has been constructing toilets across the state, especially in rural areas many of which lacked public toilets.

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