Sanitary Toilets

Public toilets can be a 'microbial soup', especially when many people use them and cleaning isn't frequent as it should be

The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its anguish over 20 high courts not filing compliance reports following its verdict on ensuring toilet facilities in all courts and tribunals in the country and gave them eight weeks to do so. It was the last opportunity, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said. Failure to file the reports in the next eight weeks will have consequences, the bench noted sternly. In January 15, the court ruled that access to proper sanitation is recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Issuing a slew of directions, it asked high courts, state governments and UTs to ensure availability of separate toilet facilities for men, women, persons with disabilities and transgender persons in all court premises and tribunals. It also asked for a status report within four months. On Wednesday, the bench noted that only the high courts of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Calcutta, Delhi and Patna had filed affidavits giving details o

Bathrooms are no longer just ordinary, small spaces in a home. They're taking centre stage and becoming sanctuaries of quiet luxury and comfort

Jairam Ramesh alleged that after the initial fanfare, "the Prime Minister has moved onto other schemes, headlines and events"

Bindeshwar Pathak established the Sulabh International Social Service in 1970, to resolve the country's sanitation problems

The initial public offer of Venus Pipes and Tubes got fully subscribed within the first few hours of opening on Wednesday. It closed with 2.37 times subscription on the first day

The land of the government, public sector undertakings and cooperative institutions would be utilised for this purpose

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) commissioned two private consultancies, IPE Global and Kantar, to conduct a nationwide survey to verify India's ODF status

Direct intervention in schools by ensuring that children have access to safe, hygienic and regularly maintained toilets will increase their attendance and engagement. This will translate into good toilet habit among children and their families and communities

Access to safe/sanitary toilets gets 55% weightage among the three parameters to be used to rate states' performance