BW Online Bureau

Nov 19, 2022

Rotary Club Madras Magnum and Rotary International District 3232 on the ocassion of World Toilet Day, dedicated a toilet block for boys in a government school in Chennai.

Around the world, at least 892 million people continue to practice open defecation. This often causes the spread of diarrheal diseases. Each day, nearly 1,000 children die around the world from diarrhea related to poor sanitation and contaminated water sources.

In India, several steps have been taken by the government to address the gap of inadequate access to toilet facilities. According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), 15,000 government schools in India do not have toilets. A proper toilet is crucial to ensure health and hygiene, especially for young girls who do not have access to proper sanitation during menstruation. Around 23 per cent of girls drop out of school due to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities each year, which has a detrimental impact on their lives.

The initiative will impact the lives of 650 students and 25 teachers in the co-educational school.

Rotary Club Madras Magnum President, Dinesh Baid said, “Though the government is focusing on infrastructure, there is paucity in building and maintaining toilets in school. Toilets is a basic necessity that students need, without access to proper sanitation children dropout of schools, especially a girl child. There is a requirement from at least 170 schools to build toilets. After the need assessment is done, basis international standards and number of children attending the school, the project is initiated and prioritised. In the next 3-4 months, we are aiming to build 8-10 more toilets by visiting the government schools and assessing the needs for toilets.”