KARAIKAL: Can those without toilets in their homes now line up at posh hotels to perform their morning ablutions? It seems they can, as the government forces private enterprises to do what it has failed to do through the Swachh Bharat Mission. With the Centre’s push on the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi whipping officials into action, the Karaikal district administration has put out an order declaring that all toilets in petrol bunks, hotels and restaurants must be open for public use, free of cost.
What’s more, the toilets will soon be marked on Google maps for easy identification.
Now, not just customers of the hotels and petrol bunks, anyone who wants to use the facilities must be allowed to do so and cannot be turned away, according to the new order. Dare any establishment turn away those seeking to attend nature’s call, it faces cancellation of its commercial licence.
If you thought this was just some strange order passed by some obscure government official, the person-in-charge, D Sudhakar, Commissioner, Karaikal Municipality, claims he was only adhering to directions given by the Union Government, when he issued the notification on Wednesday.
Speaking to Express, Sudhakar said, “We aim to make Karaikal the cleanest city. A lot of devotees coming to Thirunallar and tourists to other adjacent places will benefit from it, and that is why we have issued such a notification. Petrol bunk and hotel owners cannot refuse this. If there are any such complaints, the Municipality can go so far as to cancel their commercial licence.”
In the 35-square kilometre jurisdiction of Karaikal Municipality, there are 18 wards in which 15 petrol bunks function. The Municipal administration is now taking a count of the number of hotels and restaurants, Sudhakar said.
“We will inspect these toilets after October 2, and also link them to Google map services so that tourists can spot them easily,” said Sudhakar.
Speaking to Express, S Ravichandran, a worker at a petrol bunk said they were already allowing the public to use their facilities on humanitarian grounds. “It’s not necessary to issue a notification for allowing the needy to make use of our toilets, as we are already doing this even without the directions of the Government. However, this order could force a few owners who refused to let the public use the toilets to fall in line now,” he said.
However, hotel owners, who usually reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, presumably are uncomfortable with the idea of being forced to keep their facilities open to the public. Perhaps anxious not to offend the powers that could go so far as to cancel his licence to operate, the owner of a restaurant on the busy PK road, who chose to remain anonymous, expressed his apprehensions with a round-about example to illustrate why the municipality should probably rethink the order. “The toilets are at the far end of the hotel premises. If a stranger who urgently wants to relieve themselves enters in a hurried manner, it could make our customers panic, and not let them enjoy their meal in peace. So, the Municipality should reconsider this” he said.