Woman commuter of Maharashtra State Road Transportation Corporation campaigns for better sanitation facilities at bus stations

Nguvu Change leader Renuka Gaikwad's petition highlights the deplorable hygiene standards of MSRTC’s public toilets. After years of suffering from filthy public toilets at bus stations, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’sNguvu Change Leader Renuka Gaikwad, has launched a campaign “Pee_With_Dignity” to address the unhygienic conditions of public toilets for women at the bus stations of Maharashtra State Road Transportation Corporation (MSRTC).

As the 75th Marathwada Liberation Day approaches (September 17), her online petition is a strong reminder to Maharashtra that to thrive in an equitable way with pride, basic amenities like sanitation must reach every citizen.

Renuka, who commutes on an MSRTC bus twice a week, has personally gone through an agonising time and also observed the difficulties thousands of other women face due to unhygienic public toilets. She recently trained in digital campaigning skills with the She Creates Change program of the Nguvu Collective, and this sparked off the “Pee_With_Dignity” campaign idea in her.

Daily, a whopping 1.6 million women travel by MSRTC buses.

“Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a 50% concession in fares for women commuters of MSRTC in March this year. The government’s intention to create a significant uptick in female ridership is laudworthy. Yet, for women, bus rides continue to be traumatic experiences, and they endure serious health issues because of unhygienic toilets. Incentivising bus rides alone is not enough. I appeal to the Maharashtra government to provide clean and hygienic toilets in our bus stations,” Renuka says.

She shares, “I am forced to withhold urine because the toilets at these bus stations are poorly maintained and unsanitary. I even avoid drinking water when I travel, which results in dehydration, and fatigue, and I even risk a urinary tract infection because I cannot bring myself to use these toilets.”