The State Human Rights Commission has ordered the commissioner of Chennai Corporation to inquire into a complaint alleging its 20 zone offices of not providing basic sanitary facilities to their staff and the public who visit the offices with grievances.
Commission member Jayanthi also ordered the Corporation commissioner to take necessary action on the complaint by P. Kalyana Sundaram, a social activist.
According to Mr. Kalyana Sundaram, the Corporation earlier consisted of just 10 zones and 155 wards. After the expansion of city limits, there are now 15 zones and 200 wards. But basic amenities such as toilets, potable water and seating facilities were not provided in the offices at the zonal level. “Not providing such amenities causes untold hardship to the common public who come there to redress their grievances. The scant facilities cause suffering to the overburdened staff too,” the complainant said.
Mr. Kalyana Sundaram termed such denial of facilities as a violation of human rights, and sought to know when such provisions would be made available at the zonal offices. The Commission also ordered the Corporation commissioner to look into a complaint that said the Corporation toilets were encroached upon by local politicians who claimed successful bids in the tender.
Mr. Kalyana Sundaram said, though it was the duty of an elected body to provide adequate amenities, including public toilets, to its citizens, the corporation was inviting tenders for running paid toilets in the city. Rather than operating the toilets on its own, the Corporation was leaving the job to private entities, he said, adding it was against the law.
Basic amenities such as toilets, potable water and seating facilities not provided at zonal offices, a social activist claimed in his complaint Corporation toilets encroached upon by local politicians, the complaint said