The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will build at least 2,000 toilets across schools in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh by March 2016.
Speaking at the CII-organised CSR meet here in the city today, Viresh Oberoi, Chairman, CII-Eastern Region, said that the setting up of toilets across various schools was a part of the industry body’s social agenda “in consonance with the Swachh Bharat” campaign.
The organisation, Oberoi said, is already working with corporate houses, governments, local bodies, self-help groups and NGOs in this regard.
According to a release issued by CII, over 4,16,000 schools in the country are without toilets. In West Bengal, approximately 32 per cent – 26,466 out of 81,915 – are without toilets. In Bihar, over 52 per cent – 37,400 out of 70,673 – are without toilets.
Similarly, in Odisha and Chattisgarh the number of schools without toilets stands at 37 per cent or 21,648 and, 10,921 schools or 23 per cent, respectively.
In Jharkhand, there are only 10,220 schools with toilets, while the number of schools is 40,666.
The number of dysfunctional toilets in these states - 20,387 in West Bengal, 21,560 in Odisha, 18,822 in Bihar, 7,329 in Jharkhand and 6,723 in Chhattisgarh – are equally high.