BJP MP adopts villages in Meghalaya, Bihar; sends soaps, sanitary pads

"Inspired" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day mention of his government's efforts to make sanitary pads widely available for women from poor background, BJP MP Rakesh Sinha said that he has adopted two villages and is sending thousands of soaps and pads there.

In a letter to Modi, Sinha said he has adopted Kongthong in Meghalaya, also known as the whistling village, and Bairpura in Begusarai, Bihar, a village of socially and economically deprived people.

"I am supporting the women of these two villages with soaps and sanitary napkins. Kongthong has 97 families where I am sending 3,000 soaps and 3,600 sanitary napkins. Bairpura has 300 families where I am sending 2,000 soaps and 4,000 sanitary napkins," he said.

The Rajya Sabha MP wrote to Modi, saying that his Independence Day speech, in which he mentioned his government's efforts to make sanitary napkins available at a cheap rate to women, has become a "document of progressive social transformation".

"You have prioritized the need and necessity of sanitary napkins for teenage girls and women and integrated it with the government welfare schemes," he said, noting that talking about menstruation and sanitary napkins has been a taboo in society .

He has taken inspiration from Modi's address, he said.

Our mothers and sisters had to face mental and physical agony and frustration, Sinha added and cited a WHO survey conducted in 35 Indian cities in 2017 in which 45 per cent women said sanitary napkins are considered a taboo and 35 per cent were of the opinion that they felt uncomfortable while buying them in the presence of other customers.

He said the prime minister's address on this issue has inspired society to introspect and change the way they see it.

"This removed the taboo about its use and sparked discussion among the women of the country, most of whom were even unaware of its benefits. The discussion and inclusion remained confined to few NGOs of the country," he said.

Sinha also mentioned a number of pro-woman programmes of the Modi government, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, extension of maternity leave and Ujjwala scheme which, he said, have benefitted them immensely.