Call for construction of toilets in schools gets cold response from India Inc

India Inc has given a very cold response to the Central Government's call to provide schools with separate toilets for boys and girls under corporate social responsibility.

Out of a total 4,17,796 toilets constructed at the Government schools across the country, Corporate Houses contributed to the construction of just 0.82% toilets. Only 12 Corporates joined in the Narendra Modi government's move to provide every Government school with separate toilets for boys and girls.

They funded towards the construction of a total of 3,466 toilets, according to data with the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.

While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) supported the construction of 1,509 toilets followed by Mahindra Group 1,171, German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz doled out funds for the construction of just one toilet for boys at a school in Goa.

The TCS funded construction of a total of 1026 toilets at Government schools in Andhra Pradesh, 425 in Telangana and 58 in Bihar. Mahindra Group supported the construction of in 10 States including 536 in Bihar, 422 in Andhra Pradesh, 79 in Assam and two in Karnataka—one at a girls school in Aladahalli village, Kadur while the other at PU College, Aurad, in Kalaburgi North.

Infosys Foundations funded construction of 250 toilets in Odisha, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 138 in Bihar and Odisha, Microsoft India 22 in Telangana and Coca-Cola India Private Limited 14 in four States including Andhra Pradesh.

The public sector units (PSUs) under various Union Ministries remained the major contributors as they together funded for the construction of more than 1.41 lakh toilets in Government schools across the country. Ministry of Power funded the constructed of more than 64,000 toilets while Ministry of Coal incurs the expenditure on construction of 52,388 toilets.