MLC Puttanna threatens protest over school toilet cleaning issue

Congress MLC P. Puttanna, said he will launch a campaign involving teachers of all schools as a protest against the State government, condemning the suspension of a teacher who allegedly made children clean the toilet in a government school in Ramanagara town.

Mr. Puttanna plans to visit the office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zilla Panchayat (ZP) of Bengaluru South district on June 17, with toilet cleaning materials, demanding that the ZP officials themselves clean the school toilets in the entire district.

Letter to Minister

Mr. Puttanna wrote a letter to the Minister of School Education, Madhu Bangarappa, on June 11, in this regard. “The suspension of a teacher who allegedly made children clean the school toilet is condemnable. Due to some wrong rules, a situation has arisen where teachers are burdened with a lot of work besides teaching. Therefore, to condemn this incident, on Tuesday, I am launching a campaign by giving brooms, hand gloves, phenyl, soap, brushes, and other materials required to clean the toilets to the Zilla Panchayat CEO. Teachers of all government/aided/unaided schools in the district will participate in this protest,” Mr. Puttanna told The Hindu.

The Zilla Panchayat CEO, during his visit to a government school in Troopline of Bengaluru South on June 6, noticed children cleaning the toilets and objected. The Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) suspended the teacher for dereliction of duty, terming the act of making children clean the toilets as illegal, the letter said.

However, Mr. Puttanna said, “There are no attenders or cleaning staff in government schools. A situation has arisen where teachers have to do all the work. In many schools, teachers are cleaning toilets. So, do teachers have no dignity?”

He even argued that it is not wrong for children to clean toilets in schools. “Earlier, when we were students, we used to clean the toilets and premises in schools ourselves. We used to water the gardens. This was a part of activity in the school,” he stated.

“The maintenance charge given to government schools is not enough for anything. Due to this, toilet maintenance is difficult, and there is a shortage of labourers to clean the toilets. The government should give the maintenance of the toilets of all schools to private agencies at the district or taluk level. This will avoid exploitation of both children and teachers. I will raise this issue in the upcoming Legislature session,” he added.

Mr. Puttanna also urged the government to revoke the suspension order of the teacher.

‘Collective work’

Meanwhile, development educationist Niranjanaradhya V.P. urged for community participation in school toilet cleaning.

“In order to create awareness that cleanliness is an integral part of life and everyone should participate, the Chief Minister, Ministers, public representatives, celebrities, respected people of society and officials of all levels in the School Education and Literacy Department should voluntarily visit schools and join hands with the children and teachers in the cleanliness work and encourage it as a collective work,” he said.

Published - June 14, 2025 08:39 pm IST