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New Delhi: The Supreme
Court has asked state governments to provide educational,
sanitation and drinking water infrastructure in the schools
including separate toilet facilities for boys and girls, drinking
water facilities, sufficient class rooms and the appointment of
teaching and no-teaching staff within six months.
There are 1,096,064 government schools. Out of these, 624,074
schools have girl toilets and 824,605 schools have common toilets
for boys and girls.
An apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishanan and Justice
Dipak Misra Wednesday asked the state governments to give effect
to various directions already given by it for "providing toilet
facilities for boys and girls, drinking water facilities,
sufficient class rooms, appointment of teaching and non-teaching
staff etc., if not already provided, within six months from
today".
Justice Radhakrishnan said: "We make it clear that these
directions are applicable to all the schools, whether state-owned
or private, aided or unaided, minority or non-minority."
Disposing of a petition moved by NGO Environment and Consumer
Protection Foundation, the court said: "We make it clear that if
the directions are not fully implemented, it is open to the
aggrieved parties to move this court for appropriate orders."
The NGO moved the apex court seeking directions to improve the
conditions in schools.
Referring to its April 12 verdict, upholding the constitutional
validity of the right to education law providing for free and
compulsory education to students up to the age of 14 years, the
court said that it gave some directions so that the mandate of the
law could be carried out.
The court in its April judgment highlighted the necessity of
constituting a regulatory authority for effective functioning of
the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.
The judgment said that on the basis of the directions issued by
the apex court in the instant matter some States submitted the
details of the infrastructure facilities in the schools in their
respective states.
"This court noticed that some of the schools have not provided
proper toilet facilities for boys and girls and, in some of the
schools, it was noticed that there is no provision for drinking
water as well," the judgment said.
Under the the "Total Sanitation Campaign" a school sanitation
hygiene education programme is operational in 607 districts spread
across 30 states and union territories and a total of 1,199,117
school toilets have been financially assisted under the TSC.
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