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Disposal bags mandatory with sanitary napkins from Jan 2021, says Prakash Javadekar
The minister said there is still no mechanism to dispose off sanitary napkins in the country
It will be mandatory for sanitary napkin manufacturers to provide disposal bags from January 2021, said Prakash Javadekar, union minister of environment, forest and climate change and minister of information and broadcasting.
Javadekar was in the city on Sunday to interact with sanitation workers of Pune Swach, a wholly-owned workers’ cooperative, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The minister said there is still no mechanism to dispose off sanitary napkins in the country.
“We have observed that production and usage of sanitary napkins and diapers have increased in the country, however, they are still being discarded in a way which is harmful to waste-pickers. From January 2021 onward it will be mandatory for all sanitary napkin manufacturers to provide degradable disposal bags for each napkin,” said Javadekar.
The rule is already in existence, but is not being followed by the manufacturers, added Javadekar.
The minister also said collection of garbage and its disposal will be made compulsory. “We have to ensure that decentralised model is followed wherein garbage by educational institutes and housing societies should be disposed at the premises itself.”
“There is a rule for picking of garbage and disposal for municipal towns, this rule will be made compulsory for all the habitations with more than 3,000 population. With steps like these the dream of Swachh Bharat of Prime Minister Modi will be realized” said Javadekar.
”There is a need to call sanitation workers as “Swachh sevika. “We should address the sanitation workers as ‘Swachhta Sevika’ from this International Women’s Day as they are doing a great service to the nation,” said Javadekar.
