Universities asked to furnish information on toilet facilities for girl students, female staff
More said one toilet per 50 females has been considered as the ideal ratio in colleges.
2 min read
The State Higher Education department, which has realised the gravity of lack of toilets for girl students and female staff in several colleges, has stumped the state universities by seeking information on the facilities in less than 24 hours.
In a communication to the universities on Thursday, the authorities asked the varsities to furnish details such as number of girl students, number of female employees and status of toilet facilities at the affiliated colleges by 1 pm on Friday.
Speaking to Newsline, Vitthal More, Joint Director (Higher Education), defended the deadline he had set for universities to respond.
“The universities could have compiled the desired information on phone. We just wanted a rough idea about the number of colleges where toilet facilities are not available for girl students and female staff,” he said.
An official from one of the state universities, on the condition of anonymity, said it was impossible for the varsity administration to gather details from the affiliated colleges in a day’s time.
“All state universities have large number of affiliated colleges and therefore it is not possible to get the desired information in such a short notice. Pune University, for instance, has more than 600 affiliated colleges. Many colleges often do not respond to our communication in stipulated time and work has to be get done by sending reminders,” he said, adding the issue of lack of toilet facilities for girls in colleges was important for all stakeholders.
In keeping with the said orders, Pune University has asked all its affiliated colleges to submit necessary information at the earliest.
Meanwhile, dwelling upon the issue, More said the government was considering outsourcing the work of cleanliness in absence of which the toilet facilities for girls are being neglected in colleges. “The government is considering hiring private agencies for maintaining cleanliness, if need be. Plans are being charted out to address the issue,” he said.
More said one toilet per 50 females has been considered as the ideal ratio in colleges.
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