NEW DELHI, July 4, 2025–Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Shri Devender Yadav said that the Delhi High Court observation on the abject condition of public toilets in Delhi is a reflection of public utilities in the Capital of the country as it has not yet been declared open defecation-free state. He said that the terrible state of public toilets exposes the failures of the BJP Government and the previous Aam Aadmi Party Governments in ensuring cleanliness and making the city open defecation-free as PM Modi’s Swatch Bharat Abhiyan has not made any impact in Delhi.
Shri Devender Yadav said that BJP’s “Triple Engine” Government is running on the pattern of the previous AAP Government, as the Chief Minister, Mayor and Ministers are busy doing politics of photo-ops instead of ensuring adequate civic facilities to the public. He said that this was the reason the Delhi High Court expressed displeasure over the functioning of the Delhi Government, Delhi Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi over their indifference and insensitivity in the maintenance of public toilets in the capital Delhi.
Shri Devender Yadav said that governments have charged crores of rupees as tax from the public under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for the last 11 years, but the condition of toilets in the Capital is pathetic. He said that dirty public toilets are the most complex problem for women, as the Rekha Gupta Government is insensitive to the plight of women in using dirty toilets. He said that to ensure cleanliness and proper maintenance of public facilities are the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, PWD, DDA and the Delhi Government but they have failed to keep the city neat and clean. He said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, mired in corruption, has proved to be a complete failure in the cleanliness and maintenance of public toilets in the Capital.
Shri Devender Yadav said that public toilets are in bad shapes in areas such as Chandni Chowk, Paharganj, Nehru Place, Azad Market, Janakpuri, Tilak Nagar, Rajouri Garden etc. while markets in these areas have given to the Delhi Government and the Delhi Municipal Corporation crores of rupees in taxes. Photos of the terrible condition of toilets of Sangat Rashan Bazar, Grain Market and General Market of Paharganj expose the failure of the concerned agencies.
Shri Devender Yadav said that the Capital is plagued by the accumulation of garbage and dirty condition of toilets without clean water, power and clogging. He said that when the court intervenes on the pathetic condition of public toilets due to the lack of maintenance by the municipal bodies, then the court can understand that the matter is not only sensitive, but very serious which requires urgent attention.
Shri Devender Yadav said that Prime Minister Modi started the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on 2 October 2014, but even after 11 years, the Abhiyan could not get the country rid of its filth. He said that when the sanitation system in the capital is in such a terrible state, the sanitation condition in other cities can only be imagined. He said that under the Swachh Bharat Mission Rural, 11 States with rural zones have declared themselves as open defecation-free, but it is very unfortunate that Delhi is not declared as an open defecation free state despite being the capital of the country.
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