Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphatic campaign for toilets in his Independence Day speech, and his appeal to corporate India to prioritise the provision of toilets in schools for boys and girls was indeed laudable (Editorial, “ > Commendable initiative ,” Sept. 1). It is heartening to find big companies committing themselves to the cause as part of their corporate social responsibility.
It may be relevant here to highlight the state of existing toilets in bus stations, railway stations and other public places. Even the educated do not bother to keep public toilets clean. As the editorial says, “building toilets without building awareness and changing the mindset would still yield poor results,” thereby putting our trumpeted sanitation policy in the doldrums.
C.A.C. Murugappan,
Sivaganga
While Mr. Modi rightly stressed on the need for better sanitation, unless people in general become ‘toilet-literate,’ his initiative may be rendered futile. The government should ensure that the toilets being built are well-spaced, illuminated and ventilated ones. Contractors generally build a dungeon with a hole and expect people to treat it as a toilet. People might be poor but they are human. Given a choice between a dungeon and an open ground, they will prefer the latter.
Rathish Poovadan,
Hyderabad
The article, “Toilets are needed, so is ‘toilet-training’” (Open Page, Aug. 31) was interesting. It rightly pointed to people’s poor civic sense. People should change their mindset and spare a thought for those who are affected by their acts of poor hygiene.
T.S.N. Rao,
Bhimavaram
This refers to the report that some corporates are to build toilets as part of their CSR initiative. When Mr. Modi first said ‘toilet first, temple later,’ he faced much flak for giving more importance to toilets. However, he reiterated the need for toilets during his Independence Day speech. It appears that the Prime Minister’s dream of making India ‘Swachh Bharat’ is resonating well among all groups. Let us hope the initiative will become a reality.
M.N. Krishna,
Hyderabad
