Free Sanitary Napkins for Girl Students Through ‘She Pad’ Project in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
In a novel initiative, Kerala government has launched the ‘She-pad’ project, aimed to provide free and high-quality sanitary napkins to girl students in government and aided schools across the state and to equip the schools with incinerators for the scientific disposal of used napkins.
Health and Social Justice Minister K K Shylaja inaugurated the project at the function held at Janardhanapuram Higher Secondary School at Ottasekharamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram. The project, being implemented by State Women’s Development Corporation using the plan fund of local self-government bodies, will cover around 300 schools located in 114 panchayats this academic year.
Though the government had piloted the project in some schools after taking a note of extreme anxiety among girl students and other health problems, both physical and mental, during their menstrual periods, the initiative still had several drawbacks. “Now, we are launching this project after fulfilling all the shortfalls,” said the minister.
Besides sanitary napkins and incinerators, the schools will be provided with adequate number of cupboards to store sanitary napkins. The launching ceremony also witnessed release of pamphlets, prepared with the support of HLL Lifecare Limited, which are to be distributed among the teenaged girls to create awareness on healthy and hygienic practices to be adopted during the time of menstruation.
In an initiative to promote healthy menstruation practices in schools, HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) has teamed up with the Kerala government for launching ‘She-Pad’ in state-owned schools by mid-August – a first of its kind project in the country.
The project aims at providing free sanitary napkins and awareness booklets to girls from 6th to 12th standard in all government and aided schools in Kerala. More than one lakh students and teachers will benefit from the ‘She Pad’ project,
An awareness camp for boys in creating a healthy mindset on menstruation will also be conducted in the schools as part of this ‘She Pad’ project. The sanitary napkins to be distributed will conform to the standards set by Kerala Medical Service Corporation and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
HLL has been already providing sanitary napkins to nearly 4,000 institutions, including schools and other women- oriented workplaces, across India through their ‘Vendigo’ machine. The machine dispenses “Happy Days” sanitary napkins, manufactured by HLL at its Kanagala factory in Belgaum. Additionally, the napkin incinerators being installed along with the machine will enable safe and environment-friendly disposal of used napkins. HLL’s factory at Kanagala produces around 400 million sanitary napkins per month.