-The India Express For the health, dignity and safety of women in slums, a comprehensive policy for the maintenance and construction of Public Toilets is needed. Living in a slum in Bandra West close to the railway station, Vijaya wakes up every morning to anxiety over the trek she and her daughter must take into the open, carrying water cans, to answer nature’s call. They could use the community toilet nearby, but...

Seldom rural citizens get the chance to meet high-level officials who are responsible for delivery of public services and implement pro-poor schemes. But this was made possible thanks to the Accountability Yatra, which is taking place in Rajasthan since December 2015.   It is indeed a rare opportunity to find a District Education Officer (DEO) being asked directly by a simple villager in a public meeting that in how many school...

Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made.   Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed us that during...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Women have the right to have safe and decent toilets at all convenient places, observed the Bombay high court on Wednesday upholding the "right to pee" for women who are outdoors. "Women have the right to safe and clean toilets which in a way impacts their right to live with human dignity,'' said a bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere in their judgment. "One...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: New hotels and motels should have at least two rooms "preferably on ground floor" for wheel-chair users and every theatre, movie or assembly hall should have provision for a minimum of six seating spaces for such persons. These are some of the guidelines that have been prescribed by the urban development ministry for architects and those who own or manage such public spaces to make...