Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged irregularities in the construction of toilets in schools by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in an audit report tabled before Parliament.
Key takeaways
The CAG audit conducted a physical survey of a sample of 2,695 toilets built by CPSEs in 15 States.
Out of the 1,967 schools surveyed, 99 schools had no functional toilets while 436 had only one functional toilet.
Thus, the objective of providing separate toilets for boys and girls was not fulfilled in 27% of the schools.
Norm for daily cleaning (at least once a day) not followed: 75% of toilets
No running water facilities inside: 72% of constructed toilets
No hand washing facilities: 55% of the toilets
Almost 40% of toilets were non-existent, partially completed or unused.
Do you know?
There are 10.8 lakh government schools in the country. Overall, more than 1.4 lakh toilets have been built by 53 CPSEs, with significant support coming from power, coal and oil companies as part of the Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan.
Important value additions
Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan:
Launched by: Ministry of Education in September 2014.
Aim: To have separate toilets for boys and girls in all schools all over India.
The programme norms required the CPSEs to build toilets with running water and hand washing facilities.
