Mumbai, Sept 7th,2022: The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday came down heavily on the state government for not ensuring sufficient and clean washrooms in schools for girls in both the urban and rural areas.
The HC observation was made after assessing a report submitted by the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA), which had conducted a surprise inspection in schools based on a previous HC order.
The issue was raised in the court as a PIL was filed by Nikita Gore and Vaishnavi Gholav.
The division bench of Justices PB Varale and Sharmila Deshmukh rapped the government and said that they are “pained to see the sorry state of affairs”.
Justice Varale said that the report is also about schools in Mumbai suburbs. “If this is the situation in urban areas, just imagine how it would be in rural areas. What are the state government’s education officers doing? Is it not the duty of your officers to carry out periodic checks?” the judge remarked.
The bench then directed the state to respond and posted the hearing of the PIL after four weeks.
