R'than govt to distribute sanitary napkins to teenage schoolgirls

In a first of its kind initiative, the BJP government plans to distribute sanitary napkins to teenage girls studying in the government schools of Rajasthan to ensure hygiene and prevent girls from any medical complications during menstrual cycle.

“The napkins will be distributed to over 16 lakh teenage girls between 14 and 19 years of age coming under below poverty line (BPL) families,” said Rajendra Rathore, Minister for Medical and Health. 

The project is almost ready and it will be implemented soon, the minister added.The local primary health centres will provide the napkins to school administration, which will hand over them to the girls. The project will be implemented in different phases and beneficiaries will be expanded with each phase. Officials said in later stages several NGOs will be roped in to educate village women and motivate them to use sanitary napkins. 

In many villages of Rajasthan, women are not allowed to enter the house for three days during menstrual cycle.

“It’s very essential to educate rural folks and motivate the women to use such sanitary pads. It will not only help them to maintain hygiene but may also put an end to irrelevant practice of keeping women out of house during menstrual cycle. So NGOs will be roped in to educate the people and pads will be distributed free of cost,” said an official of the Health and Medical department.