They, however, expressed reservation on whether it will take off as grandly as envisaged by the SDMC
Day one of South Delhi Municipal Corporation's initiative to make toilets in restaurants and hotels fall under its jurisdiction, available to women and children, turned out to be a damp squib. Launched with much fanfare by the civic body, the pilot project has still not registered amongst its end users, due to lack of awareness.
DNA spoke to few restaurateurs in south Delhi about the response towards this development and drew a blank from most of them. They claimed that they did not have anyone walking in to specifically use their toilets, indicating that it would be sometime before the move becomes known to people. They, however, expressed reservation on whether it will take off as grandly as envisaged by the SDMC.
"People are very image conscious. So, it is unlikely that they will enter premises only to use the washroom and then walk out. There is every possibility that the person would prefer to spend Rs 100 on a cup of coffee at a coffee shop only to use the facility," said Kanishq Tuteja, owner, Nukkad in SDA market. At the same time, he clarified that none of the outlets, including his, have ever refused any woman or child from using their toilets, SDMC directive or no SDMC directive.
Another owner who did not wish to be named, on the other hand, criticised the project, saying that the corporation was passing its responsibility to them. "They levy so many taxes on us. It is not that their coffers are empty that they cannot construct and maintain decent toilets for women and children. The onus is on them which they have so conveniently asked us to shoulder and are patting their backs on the achievement," he rued.
...& ANALYSIS
- Insufficient number of clean public toilets for women and children is the reason behind this radical move by SDMC
- There is no plan B in sight if the restaurants refuse to cooperate with the civic body
- SDMC has completely wrung its hands off the responsibility, passing even the maintenance of toilets entirely to the establishment owners
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