Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: July 26, 2022 at 19:46 IST
When pulling up the Maharashtra government for failing to provide clean toilets in government schools, the Bombay High Court exclaimed, that, “Does the executive think that the judiciary is a “little kid” who can be calmed down with a lollipop.”
The State Government had not taken the necessary steps for proper and effective management of cleanliness in the toilets of government-run schools throughout the state, according to a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M. S. Karnik.
The court was hearing a petition Nikita Gore and Vaishnavi Gholave, two law students, filed in which they raised concerns about the Central and state governments’ failure to implement effective menstrual hygiene management, which they said was causing inconvenience to women and especially adolescent girls.
The issue of unclean and unhygienic washrooms and toilets for girls in government schools was also pointed out in the petition.
In 16 towns and seven districts of Maharashtra, Gore conducted a survey in schools. Bhupesh Samant, Additional government pleader, said the bench on Monday that seven such schools had been targeted for action and that he had provided the bench with a document to show it.
The Bench further that after taking action, toilets will be maintained for a month, but then everything will return to normal. The Maharashtra District Legal Services Authority (MDLSA) was then ordered by the court to supervise and carry out surprise checks in such schools.
The Court directed and posted plea after August 15, “We direct all DLSAs to carry out surprise inspections in 15 such schools in each district falling within the principal seat and place their report before us.”