On lack of toilets
In search of Toilets, Manali Chakrabarty, 2010.
This report was created by a campus community resident on lack of basic sanitation facilities for possibly over four-thousand workers engaged in serving the campus. Particularly telling is the class distinction in access to toilets: faculty and family have almost a toilet for every 1.4 persons, staff and family a toilet for every 4.5 persons, students a toilets for every 6 persons, servant's quarters a toilet for every 11 persons. And contract workers, vendors, and other service providers -- not a single toilet!
In response to this report, Citizen's Forum took up the case with the institute in 2011 and wrote this letter. The problem was acknowledged and we received the this response. We thanked the institute on taking this up.
However after that nothing seemed to be moving. Therefore we also communicated with the Alumni Association on the said issue. In July 2012, the institute informed the Alumni Association board, that nine toilets, apart from those available in the hostels and the academic area have been designated for contract workers.
On our further query institute also send us a report from a committee which undertook this task. The same can be read here.
But when we informed about the same to Hamara Manch, we discovered that even though the alumni were informed of the availability of toilets, workers themselves weren't!
Volunteers at Hamara Manch also did a quick survey and produced this detailed report on the said toilets, which also paints a rather disappointing picture of their condition and difficulties in accessing the same.
It should also be kept in mind that having the physical facility does not automatically guarantee an access, and it still remains subject to whims of the contractors who often refuse toilet breaks. Here is a Hamara Manch pamphlet (Hindi), explaining these issues.
We have communicated this report with the institute, and are hoping for a positive development. It does disappoint us however that there is more eagerness to follow up to Alumni Association than inform those for whom the facility is meant!