Sacred deadline: Toilets in all Indian schools by August 15

This is one deadline that should be enforced without fail. It’s a shame that nearly seven decades after independence a large number of schools in India do not have toilets for children and staffers.

As the August 15 deadline for constructing toilets in all schools in India approaches, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rightly directed the officials, public sector undertakings and private entities to assess the progress made, so that bottlenecks, if any, could be removed. He asked all the participants engaged this initiative to expedite the work and to ensure the target is met much before the deadline.

At the ‘Swachh Vidyalaya Programme’ meeting held in New Delhi, the prime minister was informed about the status of construction of toilets in schools across various states by the governments, PSUs as well as private sector entities.

During his Independence Day speech last year, Mr Modi had announced that his government would ensure that the toilets are constructed in all schools within a year.

Based on the latest data presented to him, he noted that several states were on the verge of achieving 100 per cent target.

Mr Modi directed Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and Cabinet Secretary-designate P.K. Sinha to review the data being reported from various states, so that any bottlenecks in the implementation of the vision – ‘Swachh Vidyalaya’- can be removed within the timeframe.

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