Menstrual Hygiene

Maharashtra Jails To Get Sanitary Pad Vending Machines

Maharashtra State Women’s Commission has decided to install sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators in 9 prisons of Maharashtra

Published

on

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Commission for Women has decided to install sanitary pad vending machines in nine jails across the state in a bid to ensure better health and hygiene standards for women inmates.

The panel has already installed the facility in the Kolhapur women’s prison. The process was underway to install the machines in the Yerwada, Thane, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Amravati, Kalyan, Byculla and Chandrapur prisons and it will be completed within a month, the commission’s chairperson, Vijaya Rahatkar said.

Also ReadHirakhand Express Becomes Second Train After Rajdhani Express To Have Sanitary Pad Vending Machine

She also added that the incinerators would also be installed in these prisons for the disposal of sanitary napkins. After the custodial death of a woman inmate of the Byculla jail in Mumbai last year, the Supreme Court had passed guidelines to all the state women’s panels to upgrade the infrastructure of prisons and provide basic amenities to inmates, Ms Rahatkar said.

Following the guidelines, we visited all the women’s prisons in the state and found that inmates required sanitary pads, among other essential things. Therefore, we have taken this initiative, she said.

Also Read300 Tribal Women From Mumbai Ditch Unhygienic Menstrual Practices, Thanks To The Effort Of A 27-Year-Old

When the machines are installed, the commission will facilitate its filling with 50 sanitary pads for the first time and later the jail administration will have to refill it, Ms Rahatkar said.

Each sanitary pad will be sold at a price of Rs 2 or Rs 5 or it could even be provided free of cost. We have left it on the jail administration to fix the price of the sanitary pads, said an official from the commission.

Ms Rahatkar also claimed Maharashtra women’s commission was the first such panel in the country to take this initiative. Currently, there are 1,023 women prisoners lodged in these nine jails, she said.

Also Read: This 24-Year-old Woman From Mumbai Is Busting Taboos Associated With Menstruation And Combating Menstrual Waste

There were previously 11 women prisons in the state. Later, inmates of the jail in Ahmednagar were shifted to the Yerwada prison, she added.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Exit mobile version