33 pc ashram, ZP schools have no girls' toilets: MLC

, Sep 8: Over 33 per cent of zila parishad and residential schools for

students in

's Thane and Palghar districts do not have separate toilets for girls, a local MLC has claimed.

"I had an opportunity to visit various schools in five districts - Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg - in the last one year. I observed that more than 33 per cent zila parishad and residential schools for tribals (ashram schools) in Thane and Palghar do not have separate toilet facilities for girls, while some have no toilets at all," MLC Ramnath Mothe, who represents the Teachers Constituency in Konkan division, said yesterday.

Despite the fact that the government provides crores of funds under several plans, the situation in these schools has not improved, Mothe rued. He said he will take up the issue during the next session of Maharashtra Legislative Council. Earlier, Vasai MLA and Shramajivi Sanghatana chief Vivek Pandit, in a survey conducted last year, had pointed out that most of the ashram schools in the state lacked the basic facilities of proper food, clothing and hygiene.

He had also found that in some schools there were no toilet/bathroom facilities for students.

PTI