Pay toilets in TUTH irk users

Kathmandu, April 2

Patients and people who had visited Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for treatment have been complaining about having to pay for the toilet service inside the hospital.

Though the hospital is open for public service, it has been collecting money for use of toilet. Sabita Basnet, 45, who had visited the hospital for treatment in TUTH was shocked by the system in the hospital.

“I don’t have any experience of paying in any hospital for using the toilet,” she said. If I had known about the system I wouldn’t have used it, she said and walked off without paying.

The lady who has been taking care of the toilet complained that she got the tender from the hospital administration to maintain cleanliness in the toilet.

She said, “We do not have authority to speak on this matter, but we have been assigning to collect money and maintain cleanliness in the toilet.”

Inside the hospital, there are two toilets one for male and another for female. On the wall outside the toilet, it is written that people who use the toilet have to pay Rs 1 to urinate and Rs 2 for relieving themselves.

“To maintain cleanliness in the hospital, we have begun the system of collecting money from last year,” said Krishna Dev Panta, chief administrator at TUTH. Obviously, the hospital does not benefit by collecting money, it is only to avoid pollution and prevent equipment from getting stolen from the toilet, he said.

Due to open space, outsiders, especially drivers and pedestrians, enter the hospital premises to relieve themselves and pollute the hospital environment. This has also led to increase in the theft of equipment from the hospital, added Panta.