Tamil Nadu: Unhygienic Toilets In Govt Colleges Force Students To Defecate In Open

We have made several representations but no action has been initiated, the students said.

Government Arts and Science College in Perambalur | Credit: College Website

Chennai: Students of two government arts colleges are put to suffer due to unhygienic toilets on their campus. The unclean toilets in Government Arts College at Kurumbalur and Veppanthattai in Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu have also forced male students to defecate in the open.

According to the students, there are around 2,500 of them pursuing their education at Kurumbalur college while 1,500 are studying at Veppanthattai college. Sivaprasad, a third-year student of B.A functional English told IANS: "There are 2,500 students in Kurumbalur Government college and we don't have proper toilets. Both the women's and men's toilets are unclean and totally unhygienic. Boys are now resorting to open defecation while girls are forced to use the unclean toilets.”

We have made several representations but nothing has happened, he said.

Ironically, the state and the Central governments are strongly advocating against Open defecation and are aiming at an open defecation-free society. However, with students of even a government college forced to defecate in the open, the state government's campaign gets derailed.

Further, even drinking water facility is also lacking in these colleges, the students complained.

Ramakrishnan, district secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI) told media about the inconvenience caused due to unclean toilets.

The student leader said that even after several representations to the district authorities nothing has happened. He also warned that the student community will be forced to stage agitations if the issue is not resolved.

District administration officials said that they have already received the petition from the students and would solve the issue at the earliest.