chennai as many as 15 lakh students of corporationrun schools on wednesday observed the united nations first ever global hand washing day the act of washing hands with soap was demonstrated to the students at a function held in a school at chindadripet unicef tamil nadu representative sathish kumar emphasised the significance of hygiene in everyday life he wanted students to wash hands with soap after contact with excreta or before handling food the national family health survey report released in 2006 revealed that 40 of rural households in the country and 17 in tamil nadu do not have access to sanitation facilities the government agencies should look at provision of soaps to students and allocate funds for maintenance of toilets and proper drinking water facilities kumar added