Free sanitary napkin project to be a boon for 63K girl students in Ludhiana district
In April this year, 59,850 girl students in the district were provided free sanitary napkins under the project for which the state government had sanctioned ₹12 crore
With the state education department in the process of distributing free sanitary napkins across 6,171 schools of the state for the second time since the project was announced, as many as 6.4 lakh girl students stand to benefit, 63,818 of which are studying in the 521 government schools in Ludhiana district.
Under the project, which has proved to be a helping hand for girl students of Classes 6 to 12 in maintaining personal hygiene, every student will get three packets having six sanitary napkins each.
The private company roped in by the department has also been directed to start providing the packets to schools at the earliest.
Principals of government schools have said using sanitary napkins has helped the students maintain proper hygienic levels.
They said installation of incinerators for disposal of sanitary napkins in girls’ toilet has ensured proper sanitation. Presently, such incinerators are installed in 50 schools across the district.
In April this year, 59,850 girl students in the district were provided free sanitary napkins under the project for which the state government had sanctioned ₹12 crore.
As per sources, unhygienic use of synthetic cloth, papers or their repeated use by girls in rural areas during menstruation is a common practice.
Shreya, a student of Class 10 at a government school, said, “For the past three years, I was using a cloth during my menstrual cycle as my parents could not afford to buy sanitary napkins. I had to skip school almost every month. However, this year, the school gave us three packets of sanitary napkins. I was hesitant to use them at first. But now I feel confident, and attend class regularly.”
District education officer (secondary) Swaranjit Kaur said, “I have been inspecting the schools daily and received positive feedback from girl students. The project is a great initiative by state authorities. Schools have been asked to upload the details of the number of packets received on the web portal of the department.”
Principal of Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Girls, Gill, Smriti Bhargav, said, “We have around 1,383 students studying in Classes 6 to 12 of which 85% are attending the school daily. The free sanitary napkins have proved beneficial to the girl students in maintaining personal hygiene.”
Principal of GSSS (Girls), Jawahar Nagar, Anita Bedi, said, “The scheme has not only uplifted the confidence of girl students but also helped them keep themselves healthy. We have 455 girl students and majority of them are regular in class.”
