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All government offices to have at least one toilet for citizens

Prime minister Narendra Modi had, in his August 15 speech last year, urged countrymen to make India clean before the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who emphasised on sanitation and cleaning. Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

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All government establishments in Maharashtra will have to set up at least one toilet each for men and women who visit these offices.

A circular in this regard was issued to all government establishments by the department of water resources and sanitation on Monday. The state's circular refers to the March 8 circular of the union government and seeks compliance by October 2, 2019.

The Centre's circular talks about eradicating open defecation from India by 2019 under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It also urges government employees to build toilets in their homes to set an example for the society.

Prime minister Narendra Modi had, in his August 15 speech last year, urged countrymen to make India clean before the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who emphasised on sanitation and cleaning. Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The move aims to make it more convenient for citizens visiting government offices for work. While most offices don't have such facilities, those that do have poorly maintained ones which are usually unusable. The hesitancy in speaking out has resulted in the issue remaining on the back-burner, even at the cost of contracting illnesses, like urinary tract infection.

Welcoming the move, social activist Sanjay Vairal said, "Hundreds of citizens contract urinary diseases due to lack of toilets at government offices. What's worse is that these offices keep people waiting for hours and even force them to make several rounds."

"Most top offices want to keep their toilets locked so that no one else uses them. Forget about the public, they hardly care for their own staff," Vairal added, citing an example of the Indian Council for Social Science Research at Kalina campus of University of Mumbai, where toilets are kept locked 24x7.

To address the issue, 40 community-based organisations in Mumbai had joined hands in 2012 to mount the Right to Pee campaign that has been putting pressure on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide more toilets for women and refurbish the ones that are run-down in the 27 wards of the city.

Little work has been done to address the issue.

RTI activist Bhaskar Prabhu said, "Despite campaigns, toilets for women at most railway stations are locked up. Besides, most women toilets in Mumbai still charge a fee while men's urinals are free. Public toilets even at ward offices continue to be in bad shape."

Prabhu also pointed out the poor conditions of toilets which are under SRA, Mhada and MMRDA. "They don't even have light and water facilities. This is the condition of the state capital. One can't even imagine what's happening in tier-2 cities, small towns and rural areas of Maharashtra."

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