Taking serious note of the failure of the State Government for not complying with its direction over the issue of abandoned bio-toilets and open defecation in Dhamra and Basudevpur area in Bhadrak district, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently issued a final reminder and warned of coercive action against the State Government.
Acting on a petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy the commission on June 23 sought an action taken report from the Chief Secretary within four weeks but the same is yet to be submitted.Taking serious note of the matter the apex human rights watchdog has recently sought a final report from the concerned authorities within the stipulated time failing which failing it shall be constrained to invoke the provisions of Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 against the Government.
Pertinent to mention here that in 2012, the then Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had launched bio-toilet facility in Dhamra.Subsequently, the petitioner had lodged a complainant at the NHRC alleging that though the toilets had remained defunct for more than a year nobody from Government had ever inquired about it.
“The inaction of the Government to renovate or repair these toilets and failure of the Government to install toilets with ventilation facilities forces locals especially women to defecate in the open. This is not only an abominable phenomenon, but also serious case of violation of human rights,” the petitioner had alleged.