GOACAN has launched a "Toilets for all" awareness fortnight to protect the right of the consumer to a clean, safe and functional toilet. The awareness fortnight will also highlight the theme for the 2022 World Toilet Day on 19th November, “making the invisible visible” to draw attention to the situation of sanitation and groundwater.
During the awareness fortnight, GOACAN through the village-based consumer forums and campus-based consumer welfare clubs will focus on the importance of proper toilets for consumers with regard to sanitation and their health.
Special efforts will be made during the fortnight to check the effectiveness of the Open Defecation Free (ODF) programme in the jurisdiction of village panchayats and municipal councils, and the corrective steps that need to be taken for the same. The Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) to be set up in every panchayat in consultation with the junior engineer PWD (Water Supply) will be a priority of the awareness drive.
During the fortnight, volunteers will make surprise visits to toilets in government offices, hospitals, educational institutions and railway stations, among other places, to check the cleanliness, proper water supply, and safety of the doors and ventilation provided. Efforts will be made to check if human waste from toilets is going into a well, spring, lake, river or the soil due to the lack of a proper sanitation system.
Special checks of pay toilets at bus stands and other public places will be conducted to evaluate cleanliness, safety, display of rates, and mandatory signage and facilities for senior citizens, women, and persons with disabilities. Representations along with photographs will be subsequently made to the respective deputy collectors of the area.
