Students must clean toilets: Chandana

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Senior IAS officer Chandana Khan said on Tuesday that government school students should clean the toilets of their schools and ensure that they are properly maintained. Her remarks did not go down well with child rights activists who demanded an unconditional apology from her and asked the government to initiate action against the official, who is special chief secretary for primary education. for making such "unsavoury remarks".

Speaking at a state-level workshop on health and hygiene in government schools, organised by Unicef at Jubilee Hall here on Tuesday, Ms Khan said, "Though there are toilets in government schools, they are non-functional due to lack of proper maintenance. The government can construct toilets in all schools but what is the use if they are not properly maintained? Students should form groups among themselves to maintain them properly and keep the toilets clean."

Several students from government schools were selected to attend the workshop and give their feedback on maintaining health and hygiene. The students, especially girls, explained the difficulties they faced due to lack of toilets in schools and said that even when there were toilets, they were unclean and unusable due to lack of water. Reacting to this, Ms Khan said, “The government has been releasing Rs 500 per month per school for sanitation.”

Rights activist slam Chandana comments
Senior IAS officer Chandana Khan said “The amount (Rs 500 per school) may not be sufficient and there may be delay in disbursing the funds in some cases. Hence, it is better if students take the responsibility to keep the toilets clean on their own.”

She clarified her remarks later. “There may be differences of opinion over my comments. My intention was not to insult anyone. It was only to stress the need to take collective responsibility since the government or officials cannot do everything,” she said. “We ourselves maintain toilets at our homes. What’s wrong if students take the responsibility of keeping toilets clean in government schools,” she asked.

AP Balala Hakkula Sangham, a voluntary organisation working gor child rights, took exception to Ms Khan’s remarks. “The Centre releases thousands of crores of rupees annually to build and maintain toilets under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme. It’s the failure of the government and officials in providing toilets despite SC orders,” said Mr Achyuta Rao, president of APBHS.