LAHORE: The Rural Community Development Society (RCDS) – a community based development organisation– has constructed toilets in 15 schools (eight girls and seven boys’ schools) as a pilot project in Kasur District. Completed with financial assistance of renowned multinational company amounting to Rs 1 million in eight union councils of Kasur District, these latrines have become fully functional. Besides construction of latrines in schools, the RCDS arranged awareness sessions for members of twelve school management committees and schoolchildren on health and hygiene vis-à-vis hazards of open defecation, which is taking its toll in rural areas. The school management committees are working to ensure presence of teachers in schools, evaluating their performance and daily presence of schoolchildren. With this factor in the background, the RCDS has revitalised these committees in 15 schools of the district with redefined active roles of members to upgrade standard of education in the district. “In close coordination with philanthropist organisations, the RCDS has planned to replicate this pilot project in 50 schools of Khanewal District and 100 schools of Kasur District, which will benefit 30,000 students, teachers and other staffers,” said RCDS chairman Muhammad Murtaza Khokhar. The RCDS has been working in Kasur since 2008 and carrying out social mobilisation and community physical infrastructure programmes such as water and sanitation, link roads, irrigation, drip and sprinkler irrigation, micro-finance, bio-gas, integrated area upgrading programme and land development initiatives for the benefit of communities. The RCDS has already accomplished a safe drinking water project with a total outlay of Rs 5.5 million in Kasur District.