Right to Pee activists plan to extend campaign across state

After the huge success of the Right to Pee campaign in the city in the last five years, the activists have now decided to extend their work across the state. They have been getting requests from different parts of the state in this regard. As part of the plan, the activists will organise an 8-day study tour in the state to analyse the situation of public toilets available for women.

The Right to Pee campaign aims to draw the attention to the lack of free, clean and safe public toilets for women in Mumbai.

On May 5, 2011, the day the campaign was kicked off, it had become a laughing matter for many, especially men. But when the activists explained the issue to them, they started supporting the initiative. Initially, 18 NGOs supported the mission. The number has touched 32 now.

"This is only the beginning and there is a long way to go. At many public places, especially at railway stations, women still have to pay to use toilets. Many organisations and individuals contacted us and wanted to start such a campaign in their district and region," said Right to Pee campaign convenor Mumtaz Shaikh.

She added, "In some of the places such as Sangli and Ahmednagar, non-profit organisations have already started their work. We will support them and give them proper training to take the campaign forward. Some districts have different issues, so our volunteers will study and come up with solutions. We will start our study tour within a month," added Shaikh.