‘Lack of toilets in school leads to open defecation’

CHENNAI : Children of the primary school in Perumbakkam, where families in urban informal settlements are resettled, are made to defecate in the open due to the lack of toilets in the school, according to petitions handed over by the children themselves to RG Anand, member, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). He was on an inspection of the resettlement colony on Thursday.

“The first and foremost complaint from the children was that there are no toilets in the local schools and they were made to defecate in the open,” said Anand. The inspection was based on a complaint by Shivani Chaudhry, executive director, Housing and Land Rights Network, and Vanessa Peter, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities.

The children also raised safety concerns after dark and that the complaints were not taken up seriously by the local police. “We have forwarded the complaints to the local police and have asked them to take immediate action from here on,” said Anand. Residents also complained that they had only one PHC despite having about 13,000 families. Stating that they are planning to recommend a nationalised school for the children in Perumbakkam, Anand said action will be taken on their complaints within 30 days.