Dehradun

384 Govt schools sans toilets in State

PNS

There are 384 schools in the State that do not have toilets yet.

The State Education minister Arvind Pande said this while responding to a query raised in the question hour in Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.

In a question to the Education minister, the Salt MLA of the BJP, Surendra Singh Jeena had asked how many inter-colleges had toilets built under the Swachchh Bharat mission and in how many inter-colleges were the toilets yet to be constructed.

The minister replied that under the Swachchh Bharat mission, 26 toilets had been constructed in the 24 inter-colleges approved in 2014-15.

The MLA further asked how long would it take to construct toilets in the schools and inter-colleges left under the mission.

Replying to this, the minister said that at present there is no toilet construction pending in any of the inter-colleges approved under Swachchh Bharat mission as 26 toilets had already been constructed in the 22 inter-colleges approved under the mission.

Pande stated that construction of toilets is also undertaken in a phased manner under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Swajal, Panchayati Raj, district plan, corporate social responsibility and MLA/MP fund.

However, he expressed concern stating that at present a total of 384 government schools across the state are still without toilets.

Though this was not deliberated upon immediately, observers point out that this paints a disappointing picture of a state which claims to be open defecation free.