Sanitary Napkins Are Being Given To Adolescent Girls At Subsidised Rates, Says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi: A pack of six sanitary napkins is being provided to adolescent girls at a cost of Rs. 6 every month under a the centrally-sponsored scheme, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Lok Sabha on Friday. Mr. Vardhan said the government is supporting the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme, a component of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram, by providing funds to States and Union Territories which propose for it in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) through the National Health Mission for decentralised procurement of sanitary napkins for adolescent girls. He said during Question Hour,

Under the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme a pack of six sanitary napkins is provided to adolescent girls at a cost of Rs. 6 per pack by the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) through door-to-door visits and also through platforms of schools and anganwadi centres.

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The ASHA gets an incentive amount of Rs. 1 per pack sold to the beneficiary, besides getting a free pack of sanitary napkins per month for her personal use. The minister said funds are also provided to ASHAs for holding monthly meetings with adolescent girls to discuss issues related to menstrual hygiene.

Mr. Vardhan said access to safe menstrual hygiene practice is an important component of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) under the National Health Mission for health and wellbeing of adolescents.

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This intervention involves increasing awareness among adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene, improving access to high quality sanitary napkins by them, ensuring safe disposal of sanitary napkins in an environmentally friendly manner, he said.

Besides this, the minister said, the Samagra Shiksha of Department of School Education and Literacy also supports interventions related to menstrual health and hygiene as per Annual Work Plans of States/UTs, including installation of sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators.

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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.