Nearly 60 per cent of students leave school without completing their education due to lack of toilets in the institutions, leading to the high drop out rate of girls in India, said Justice Kalyan Jyothi Sengupta, Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the awards presentation ceremony organised by the Justice P. C. Reddy Trust here on Saturday, Justice Sengupta stated that rampant foeticide after sex determination in the country is also a cause of concern.

Supreme Court judge Justice V. Gopala Gowda, who was also present at the event, said that though the Constitution guarantees gender equality, it has not been implemented in the country, in spite of more than 60 years of independence. “In a gender-justice society, providing economic and political equality is important,” he stated.

Justice Gowda mentioned that it is important to impart education and provide exposure to women in India for their development. “However, we have not been able to implement the constitutional directives, as the constitution provides for gender equality,” he mentioned.

Former Chief Justice of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh, Justice P. C. Reddi also spoke at the function, where 19 female meritorious female students were given financial assistance in the form of scholarships in the fields of law, medicine, engineering, sports and culture. The students are from rural areas, and backward families, who could not afford to pay fees for their education.