Girl students battle to cope with insufficient number of toilets

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching hard for constructing more toilets, especially in the educational institutions of the rural areas to help in minimizing the drop-out rates of female students, things are no different on the campus of Allahabad University. For the girl students of this ‘Central University’ of the country, it has become a daily battle to cope with insufficient numbers of toilets, most of which are locked by the departmental authorities for either their own use or for reasons best known by them.
Students of Arts faculty are the most troubled. Despite being aware of the problem, no one has taken the initiative to provide the girl students with this basic facility which is available in almost every department but is kept out of reach from the beneficiary.
“It was good to see the PM taking the call for constructing more and more toilets for the girls of our country, especially those residing in the rural belts. But someone tell him about the situation on the campus of AU. Here, even though the authorities have constructed toilets for girls, but in many departments either the authorities are keeping these locked while or they have altered the usage altogether,” said Neelu Jaiswal, vice-president of the AU student union.
Barring some departments, including physics and Botany, most others lack the facility of a toilet. Be it Zoology, Geography, Hindi, English and many more departments across the four faculties, girl students are distressed by the lack of separate toilets for them. Even after the authorities constructed separate toilets for girls, they are unable to use the toilets and there is no voice that raises the issue as girls still consider it a taboo to talk openly in front of the authorities concerned.
Sources informed that present officiating vice-chancellor, Prof NR Farooqi has appealed to the head of the departments to take necessary action in this regard but it has fallen on deaf ears. Dean of student welfare (DSW), Prof Jagdamba Singh said, “authorities have constructed separate toilets in almost every department but it is the responsibility of heads of the departments to make sure the facility reaches the beneficiary.”