The lone ladies’ toilet (right door) at Darbhanga House of Patna University. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, July 18: Darbhanga House, which houses the postgraduate classrooms of Patna University (PU), lacks a proper toilet for women. Lady teachers and girl students drink less water during the day to avoid going to the loo often.

The lone ladies’ washroom is filthy, unhygienic and unusable.

Daisy Narayan, a history teacher at Darbhanga House, said: “For more than 1,000 girl students studying various courses at Darbhanga House, there is only one washroom and even that is not fit for use.”

Narayan said they face difficulty in going to the washroom during college hours, as it remains soiled. Narayan added: “Over the past few years, we have seen many cases of teachers and students suffering from gynaecological problems or other digestive disorders, as they drink negligible water.”

Padamlata Thakur, a teacher at the department of women studies, said: “Low intake of water leads to dehydration. However, if a people consume less water over a long period, they may suffer occasional headaches, cell malfunctioning, hormonal problems and digestive ailments.”

The teachers claimed that they have raised the issue of construction of more toilets but no action has been taken by the university administration.

History teacher Maya Shankar said: “Three years ago, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad constructed the toilet using his local area development funds, but poor maintenance has virtually rendered it useless.”

Kirti Singh, a student at Darbhanga House, said the toilet is in a shambles as the door is broken and it is hardly cleaned by sweepers. Singh added: “To compound woes, there is no regular supply of water and we have to face problems in going to the washroom.”

“There are more than 2,000 students at Darbhanga House with half the percentage being girls but neither the university administration nor the state government wants to address the issue,” said a student.

N.K. Choudhary, a senior teacher at PU, said: “Toilets and drinking water are basic amenities that an educational institution should have but it is astonishing that PU doesn’t have funds to provide such facilities to students and teachers.”

Choudhary added: “We have sent several memoranda to the university administration on the issue of more toilets for ladies at Darbhanga House but it failed to yield any result. We have also demonstrated over the issue but these demands have never been met.”

Meanwhile, PU vice-chancellor Sudipto Adhikari told The Telegraph: “It is a serious issue that girls and teachers do not have separate washrooms. The varsity has decided that around half-a-dozen toilets would be built at Darbhanga House within a few months.”