“I am extremely disturbed at seeing how women suffer when they travel by bus because they don’t have decent toilet options available,” says Mr. N.V. Vasudeva Sharma, who works in the field of child rights.
Mr. Sharma has now decided to do more than just hearing the women out. He started an online petition on Change.org with a single signature. The petition, which has found 1,14,296 supporters now, will now be delivered to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
It calls attention to the fact that either there are no toilets along the roads and those that are there are not fit to be used.
“It is sheer torture for women to travel more than 12 hours in a bus on any route in India and not be able to go to the toilet,” notes the petition.
Mr. Vasudeva says that while many Indians prefer travelling by bus because of non-availability of train tickets or expensive flights, it is a nightmare for women, senior citizens and people with disabilities because of lack of toilets.
“Men never have a problem because they relieve themselves behind trees. Women have to deal with unhygienic or dangerous options like going into bushes,” he adds.
In his plea, he says that there are paid toilets, but these are not without problems. “The hygiene is horrible. What is worse is that men are charged Rs. 1 or 2 while women are charged between Rs. 5 to 15.”
“We pay a lot of tax these days. It is our right to have access to decent and safe infrastructure, especially while travelling,” notes the petition.