For the women working at the Zone A office of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, a basic, functional washroom was an unattainable luxury for decades. This fundamental workplace amenity, often taken for granted, became a source of daily struggle and indignity, a situation they silently endured until they finally raised their voices.
A Daily Struggle Across Five Floors
The core of the issue was a severe and glaring disparity. Male employees in the building had access to washrooms on the first, second, and third floors. In stark contrast, all women staff working across five floors—from the basement to the third floor—were forced to rely on a single facility. This lone women's washroom was situated on the ground floor and was in a notoriously rundown and dilapidated condition.
To make matters worse, the washroom was located in an area constantly teeming with visitors. Women had to navigate through thick crowds every time they needed to use it, a situation that caused immense reluctance and discomfort. The impracticality forced many to avoid using it altogether, leading to health concerns and immense inconvenience during their workday.
The Breaking Point and Eventual Resolution
The situation reached a tipping point recently when the women employees collectively decided that enough was enough. They approached senior officials with a direct demand for a usable and convenient washroom. Their plea coincided with a minor renovation project already underway. The civic body was repairing a washroom on the second floor that was originally meant for male staff.
Seizing the opportunity, the authorities decided to allocate this renovated second-floor washroom to the women employees. Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Prashar, who inspected the ongoing work on Thursday, acknowledged the long-standing lapse. He stated, "Though the building was constructed in 1996-97, nobody paid attention to this requirement. A few days back, women staff came to us with this demand. As we were already going ahead with work on repair of this washroom, we decided to declare it a women's washroom." He also added that issues like a leaky roof were being addressed.
Voices of the Employees: Relief and Injustice
The women staff expressed both relief at the resolution and frustration over the years of neglect. One employee revealed the extreme measures they had to take, saying, "We had no other option but to wait in queues outside the existing washroom. A few women employees had to use washrooms in senior officials' offices in emergency situations." She emphasized the injustice of having just one washroom in poor condition for all women in the zonal building.
Another employee highlighted the specific difficulties faced by older colleagues and those with medical conditions. "There are some elder women staff members, and some suffer from diabetes. They need to visit the washroom frequently but they need to go to the ground floor, even though they may be working on the second or even third floor," she explained. For them, the new facility on the second floor promises a significant improvement in their daily work life.
Incidentally, this is not an isolated problem within the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. Reports indicate that similar washroom inadequacies and disparities persist in other zones, including the MC's Zone C office, suggesting a broader systemic issue of gender parity in basic workplace infrastructure that remains unaddressed.
