NE states lag behind even as India improves girls' toilet facilities

An average of 49.67 per cent of schools in seven Northeast states had usable toilets for girls in 2024, according to data analysed from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Rural 2024.

 

This comes even as the country has increased girls’ toilet coverage in rural schools from 66.4 per cent in 2018 to 72 per cent in 2024.

 

With 79.2 per cent of schools, only Sikkim has performed better than the national average of 72 per cent this year. It is followed by Assam, with 67.7 per cent of schools having a usable girls’ toilet.

 

While Manipur was not surveyed in the report, less than 50 per cent of rural schools in four Northeast states — Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland — have a separately available and usable girls’ toilet.

 

Of these four, only Meghalaya has seen an increase in the number of schools with girls’ toilets, from 29.8 per cent in 2022 to 31.2 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, the rest of the states have witnessed a drop in the percentage of schools providing the facility.

 

While Nagaland saw a smaller 2 per cent drop, from 48.6 per cent in 2022 to 46 per cent this year, Arunachal Pradesh dropped by 9 per cent, from 43.6 per cent in 2022 to 37.6 per cent in 2024.

 

Mizoram, on the other hand, saw an 11 per cent drop, from 47.3 per cent in 2022 to 36.3 per cent in 2024.

 

ASER, released by the non-governmental organisation Pratham Foundation, is a nationwide, citizen-led household survey of children’s schooling and learning in rural India. A total of 15,728 schools were surveyed for this year’s study.

 

National average rise hides regional disparity

 

While the national average for schools in rural areas having separate and usable girls’ toilets has risen to 72 per cent this year, it hides major variations across states, with deficiencies particularly marked in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Maharashtra, as well as in most of the Northeast states.

 

In J&K, just 57.6 per cent of schools had toilets for girls this year, up from 53.1 per cent in 2022. However, neighbouring Himachal Pradesh scored high, with 81.7 per cent of schools having a usable lavatory for girl students. 

 

Some large states also seem to have remained behind the curve in terms of providing these facilities, according to ASER.

 

For instance, only 58.3 per cent of the rural schools surveyed in Maharashtra had a usable restroom for girls this year, a drop from 60.8 per cent in 2022. The state figure was 63.9 per cent in 2018, indicating a third consecutive decline in the reports.

 

Similarly, Madhya Pradesh only had 58.9 per cent of rural schools with a separate facility for girls. This, however, is a 3 per cent rise from 55.1 per cent in 2022.

 

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, on the other hand, were among the top-performing states, with 88.3 per cent and 88 per cent of schools, respectively, having a working girls’ washroom.