National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) organised an awareness program on the occasion of World Toilet Day to raise awareness about Sanitation and Hygiene. The theme of this year’s World Toilet Day is ‘Equality and Dignity’.

Shri A. S. Manekar, Deputy Director General addressed all the employees of NCSM, Central Research and Training Laboratory (CRTL) and of Creative Museum Designers (CMD) about the importance of Sanitation and Hygiene through a Power Point presentation. In his presentation he said, ‘Out of 7 billion population of the world, only 2.5 billion have proper sanitation facility’. He further said- ‘the second biggest cause of child death is Diarrhoea which is primarily connected to unsanitary conditions. Even women and girl are at risk of assault and violence due to inadequate sanitary facilities.

Citing examples from History, he said-‘In Mohanjodaro, there was a well-developed drainage system where waste water from each house flowed into the main drain. Even Roman cities had elements of sanitation. He further said that the first Ceramic Toilet was introduced by Thomas Turiferd in the year 1883.

He also highlighted about innovations in toilet by citing example of Washlets in Japan which are basically advanced toilet systems and could measure BP, play your favourite music, have functions of wash and dry, suck smell ions etc.

He advised everyone to adopt healthy habits and to keep their surrounding clean as advised by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. He thanked everyone with a quote of Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi that-‘Sanitation is more important than Independence’.

Earlier in the morning, Hand sanitation drive was also conducted in the office.

All the twenty five Science Centres under NCSM observed World Toilet Day by organising various programs.

All the officers and Staffs participated in this awareness program.