Comments (10)

1. 

   Dr.Roy Kunjappy - October 26th, 2011 at 14 h 26 min

   Realization of Right to WASH in Schools in India:

   The Supreme Court of India on Oct 18, 2011 directed all states and union territories to build toilets, particularly for girls, in all government schools by the end of November. A bench headed by Justice D K Jain asked all the governments to take immediate steps regarding this and file their compliance report before the deadline fixed by it.
   The bench said that in case of any problem, the governments would at least provide temporary toilets for the students by November-end and the permanent structure be built by the end of the year. “It is imperative for the governments to provide toilet facilities to students. Parents would not the send girl child to school if there is no toilet. We direct all states and union territories to provide toilet facilities by November 30. In case it is not possible, then temporary structure be made and permanent construction must be done by December 31,” the bench said. The court passed the order on a PIL seeking its direction to governments to provide basic facilities of drinking water and toilets in schools.

   PIL (Public Interest Litigation) was filed by lawyer Ravinder Bana seeking directions to the governments to ensure that children are given education in hospitable and safe conditions. In a judgment earlier, a bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Ganguly stressed the importance of education for all and said children availing of primary education in government institutions in different parts of country must be provided with basic facilities that are essential for human life. “This has become imperative because free and compulsory education has now become a fundamental right under Article 21-A of the Constitution,” the court said. It also asked all the district magistrates in the country to file comprehensive affidavits regarding availability of basic facilities such as potable drinking water, toilets — both for boys and girls — electricity, boundary walls and mid day meal in the primary schools.

   For details: http://www.cchrindia.org/

    

2. 

   Bilal Khan - October 28th, 2011 at 14 h 50 min

   Dr. Roy Kunjappy, this is a very interesting and positive development. Has there been any other PIL (Public Interest Ligitation) in India with reference to water issues ? Please do tell us more around November or December if the government implemented the courts order. May be you may want to submit a solution for this target: http://www.solutionsforwater.org/submit-a-solution

3. 

   Dr.Roy Kunjappy - October 28th, 2011 at 15 h 22 min

   Dear Colleague,

   Thank you for your comments and suggestions.  We hope to submit a solution based on our on-going intervention on “WASH in Schools”  and “Right to WASH” with a focus on the present Supreme Court Order.

   Further, there are several PIL (Public Interest Litigation) and court interventions on drinking water and sanitation in India towards the efforts by the civil society  in order to realize the “right of the people on water and sanitation”.

   With regards,

   Dr.Roy

4. 

   Bilal Khan - October 28th, 2011 at 16 h 07 min

   You are welcome. May be you could share some examples or case studies on these court interventions? Thanks.

5. 

   Dr.Roy Kunjappy - October 29th, 2011 at 4 h 39 min

   Yes, we have several court interventions in order to ensure adequate sanitation facilities/safe drinking water especially in schools/communities.

   Regards,

    

   Dr.Roy

6. 

   Shamim Arfeen - October 31st, 2011 at 14 h 29 min

    
   Water is not a Commercial Commodity, but Rights
   We considers Water issue in all aspects of it like drinking water, its domestic use, livestock rearing, agricultural and industrial uses, water for communication and transport, fishing, conservation of environment, ecology and biodiversity.

   For the above reasons, we firmly believe that local knowledge shall be evaluated and appreciated, as ensuring peoples’ rights to water can improve the standard of lives and livelihoods of the people.

   We realize that safe water means not only clean drinking water, but also its use in all aspects and people’s rights on it.

7. 

   Dr.Roy Kunjappy - October 31st, 2011 at 14 h 42 min

   Water- a life sustaining resource
    
   The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements.Water is nature’s free gift to life on earth. It has become a marketable commodity, with extensive withdrawal controlled by unauthorized agencies, and multinationals licensed by the local governments, selling us our own water in bottles.
    

8. 

   Bilal Khan - November 10th, 2011 at 18 h 12 min

   Hello Shamim and Roy, great debate. we like your enthusiasm. More than 87 solutions have been published so far. We invite you to read and comment on these solutions. Thank You.

9. 

   Dr.Roy Kunjappy - January 14th, 2012 at 15 h 29 min

   Ensure funds for toilets in Govt. schools – Supreme Court of India

   On 13th January 2012, The Supreme Court of India asked the Centre Government to ensure availability of funds with state governments and union territories for construction of toilets, specially for girls, in all government schools, the absence of which has been coming in way of providing free and compulsory education to children. The apex court had in its previous order said “it is imperative that all schools must provide toilet facilities as empirical researches have indicated that wherever toilet facilities are not provided in schools, parents do not send their children (particularly girls) to schools.

   “It clearly violates the right to free and compulsory education of children guaranteed under Article 21-A of the Constitution”. After perusing the affidavits filed by them about the progress of the work for which some states sought financial assistance from the Centre, the bench headed by Dalveer Bhandari directed the Centre to “ensure that funds are available with the state governments to implement its order”. The bench also said states and union territories may approach the Ministry of Human Resource Development with the requisite demand so that appropriate order can be passed for release of funds.

   It also directed Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the concerned ministry, to file an affidavit within three weeks on the issue of providing toilets in schools. The court, which is monitoring the progress made by state governments and union territories on the issue, also gave a last opportunity to Uttarakhand, Punjab and West Bengal to apprise it about the progress made by them on the construction of toilets and warned failure to file the affidavit would result in summoning their respective Chief Secretaries for personal appearance before it.

10. 

    Bilal Khan - January 20th, 2012 at 11 h 01 min

    Thank you for this update.