BASTI VIKAS MANCH observed WORLD TOILET DAY

BASTI VIKAS MANCH observed WORLD TOILET DAY by organizing a city level peace protest showcasing the pathetic condition of toilets in the government run schools in Hyderabad district. The government schools in Hyderabad district lacks basic amenities such as drinking water supply, toilet maintenance, drainage connection, overflow of manholes and continuous water supply for flushes to clean toilet.

Around 200 people comprising of communities, parents, children’s and other like-minded individuals participated in the protest. This peaceful protest had placards, banners and slogans showcasing the condition of the school toilets and demand immediate action from the concerned authorities. Through this protest BVM put forth a set of demands from the authorities such as A) Immediate restoration of all the non functional toilets in the entire government schools of Hyderabad district. B) Installation of the FLUSH system in the school toilets C) Immediate supply of drinking water and continuous water for the toilets in the Government schools D) Immediate provision of an helper to maintain clean toilets in the government schools E) Immediate action from the District Collector, Hyderabad, on these issues and to give directives to the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) for providing the drinking water supply and the maintenance of the drainage lines to the Government Schools under SCB’s jurisdiction.

A press conference was also organized at the News & Services Syndicate, Hyderguda. Around 20 representatives from the print and visual media attended the press conference. BVM submitted their demand along with the recent survey data collected on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene condition of the 77 government schools in the district. The data showed pathetic condition of schools surveyed in the districts having no proper maintenance and functional toilets without sufficient water, separate toilets for boys and girls, drainage connection for outflow from toilets and entire toilets require immediate repair with basic requirement such as tap connection, regular maintenance and bucket. After the press conference, BVM submitted memorandum to the Hyderabad district collector Mr. Sri Rahul Bojja, demanding immediate action to improve condition of the school toilets his jurisdiction. District collector assured immediate action to resolve the issues and will also look into the resource possibility for mainstreaming maintenance and cleanliness in the schools.