Sorry state of affairs in toilets of some government aided schools; violates right to dignity of girl students: Bombay High Court

The sorry state of affairs when it comes to the upkeep and hygiene of toilets in some of the government aided schools is a violation of human right of girls students to live with dignity, the Bombay High Court lamented [Nikita Narayan Gore v. Union of India]..A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik was dejected by the unhygienic state of affairs in the toilets of certain schools, after the judges were shown photographs of the survey conducted by the petitioner in government-aided schools.“We cannot help but lament on the sorry state of affairs pertaining to the upkeep and hygiene of the toilets in some of the Government aided schools which are brought to our notice by the petitioner. The issue as regards unclean and unhygienic state of affairs in the washrooms and toilets for the young girl students raised in this PIL petition affects the right of every girl child to live with dignity. We have no hesitation in observing that any failure on the part of the authorities/concerned schools to provide for such basic facilities to the young girl students would amount to denial of a basic human right to live with dignity apart from compromising on the health of these children” the bench stated in its order. The order was passed on July 25 but uploaded on the website of the High Court on Tuesday, August 2. .During the course of hearing on July 25, the Bench had been informed that the officers had taken immediate action and got those toilets cleaned.The Bench expressed its satisfaction and appreciated efforts of the State and encouraged them to keep up with the good work.However, to avoid a slugfest between the authorities of the State, the Bench deemed it appropriate to take the assistance of Secretaries of the District Legal Services Authority.“The concerned Secretaries of the DLSA themselves or through their authorised representatives, shall carry out random surprise inspection of at least 15 (fifteen) Government aided schools of which some of them should be from the rural/remote areas in the district and submit such reports on or before August 22,” the Court ordered.The bench also clarified that if the condition of the washrooms and toilets is so pathetic and unhygienic that it needs immediate attention, then the Secretaries could call the concerned local bodies or schools to take emergent steps in this regard..Meanwhile the State was asked to file a detailed response on the steps taken by the government for proper and effective menstrual hygiene management for the school going girls.[Read Order]