Jammu & Kashmir
Srinagar Woman’s Unique Initiative For Sanitary Hygiene
To raise awareness about menstrual hygiene management and help women follow healthy practices during menstruation, a 34 –year-old women from Srinagar started an initiative which provides free sanitary products to poor women in the city
Srinagar: Distributing free sanitary products in Srinagar to women who cannot afford such products is winning a million hearts and loads of appreciation in Jammu and Kashmir. Zargar, 34, quietly places sanitary kits, Eva Safety Door, at public toilets for women across Srinagar as a means of charity. ‘Eva Safety Door’ is an initiative to provide free sanitary products to poor women in Srinagar, she said. She said each kit contains sanitary pads, medicines, hand wash and sanitisers.
She said she spends a part of her salary to sanitary products for poor women and hoped more people will support the initiative. She said,
The initiative is totally my own effort and is dedicated to my late father.
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Zargar said she started the crusade to help young women enrolled in colleges who can ill-afford it. However, she is wary that without support the initiative could suffer. She said,
This is the best charity according to me. I would welcome those who want to join in or contribute. I am aiming to cover public washrooms in whole of Srinagar.
She has already found support in Dr Shazia Mehraj. Dr. Mehraj said she was initially apprehensive of her mission but we encouraged her not to hold back as the initiative was too noble to ignore. She said,
I am encouraging Zargar and support her morally.
She said she is worried about the stealing of the kits by unscrupulous elements. In Kashmir, talking publicly about menstruation is a taboo. But Zargar’s initiative could help encourage an open discussion about the subject and dispel misconceptions about the specific health condition women endure every month.