This Article is From Mar 19, 2015

Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis Gets 50,000 Postcards From His 'Sisters'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis Gets 50,000 Postcards From His 'Sisters'

File photo of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Agence France-Presse)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has received 50,000 post-cards from "sisters" in Mumbai hoping to draw their '"elder brother's" attention to the immense problems they face due to a lack of clean, hygienic toilets in the city.

The 50,000 printed post-cards were signed by Mumbai's working women and posted on March 8 - International Women's Day. The Chief Minister has taken serious note of his "sisters'' demand  and has promised to meet on a priority,

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena vice-president Shalini Thackeray, who is spearheading a "My Right to Clean Toilets' initiative."

"A metropolis like Mumbai fails to provide women with sufficient hygienic urinals and latrines at convenient intervals.

The situation is worse for women in other parts of the state. Hence, we have launched the initiative," Ms Thackeray told IANS.

She said the petition to the Chief Minister for clean and safe toilets for women was not a political demand. Women, she said, encounter various social and health issues in the city because of a lack of toilets.

Ms Thackeray said the MNS, headed by Raj Thackeray,  held a survey earlier this month and found that there are around 4,500 public toilets in Mumbai, of which nearly 65 per cent are for men only. Many of these, she said, have no proper water supply and a majority are filthy.

"This poses immense hardships to women, especially in urban centers like Mumbai where they commute long distances and remain outdoors for work at least 12 hours daily," the MNS leader said.

The drive was launched with a signature campaign at various railway stations on March 8 with celebrities participating and then the post-cards were posted to the chief minister's office.

Shalini Thackeray said after her meeting with Mr Fadnavis next week, she would call on the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation authorities and later spread the 'My Right to Clean Toilets' campaign in rural Maharashtra.

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