Rakia Imran
The Interactive Lawyers Association for Women has reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawing attention to the serious lack of toilet facilities for women at the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) in Mumbai. According to the association, the premises currently have only one men’s washroom, compelling female advocates and litigants to share restrooms with other occupants of the building. The lawyers have appealed for urgent intervention to provide adequate sanitation and improve working conditions for women at the commission.
On February 3, the Interactive Lawyers Association for Women sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the lack of basic sanitation facilities at the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC). According to the letter, the commission, situated in the Old Sachivalaya building near Elphinstone College, has just one restroom on the ground floor, which is designated for men. Female advocates, litigants, and staff members must go to the first floor, where they are forced to share inadequate washrooms with other building occupants, creating an uncomfortable and unhygienic situation.
“Some of the lady staff members of the SCDRC and advocates have requested us to bring to your kind notice their sad plight and continued inconvenience and to help them with the basic facility of providing toilet/washroom on the ground floor of their workplace, which is their fundamental right and basic requirement“, the letter stated.
Having played a pivotal role in installing sanitary pad vending machines at the Bombay High Court and setting up a crèche for lawyers and court staff, the Interactive Lawyers Association for Women expressed shock over the absence of dedicated toilet facilities for women at the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC). The association criticized the failure to provide such a basic necessity in an important legal institution and called for urgent action to rectify the situation, ensuring dignity and hygiene for female advocates, litigants, and staff.
Highlighting the objectives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission, the Interactive Lawyers Association for Women argued that the unsanitary conditions at the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) contradict the fundamental principles of the cleanliness campaign. Though the association expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s initiative to ensure universal access to proper sanitation facilities under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Swachh Bharat Yojana’, launched in 2014 and expanded in 2021 as SBM-U (Urban) 2.0, the lawyers urged the Prime Minister to take immediate steps by directing the concerned authorities to rectify the situation, also forwarding a copy of the letter was to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for further action.