Gurugram: PWD floats ₹5L tender for sanitary pad vending machines in district court

10 machines with incinerators to be installed in women’s washrooms; bids open till April 13, aimed at rising footfall and hygiene concerns.

The Public Works Department (PWD) floated a tender to install sanitary pads vending machines in the district’s court complex on Saturday as part of efforts to improve sanitary facilities, officials said on Sunday.

(Representative image) Tender worth ₹5 lakh covers one-year supply; officials aim to improve facilities as daily women footfall crosses 1,000. (HT Archive)

Bids from private agencies will be accepted until April 13, after which a technical evaluation of the ₹5 lakh tender will be conducted, said officials, adding that similar processes are underway at several of the city’s civil and labour courts.

According to the tender, available on the Haryana government’s official website,10 sanitary pad vending-cum-incinerator machines will be installed in the existing women’s washrooms. Each machine will be stocked for a year, with an estimated 3,000 units per machine annually.

PWD executive engineer Charandeep Rana said the automatic vending machine will have a capacity of 33 napkins per day and an incinerator capacity of 80 napkins. “The decision to install new and upgrade existing sanitary machines was taken keeping in view the rising number of women visitors in the court complex,” said Rana.

The city currently has 64 courts operating from the headquarters in Sector 11, including two sub-division judicial complexes in Sohna and Pataudi and 15 newly opened district-level courts.

“The number of women lawyers and daily visitors has increased to over 1,000 from 60-70 around two decades ago. The two washrooms on the first floor of the building are rarely cleaned, forcing women to use the nearby mini secretariat building,” said Dr. Anju Rawat Negi, senior advocate at the district court.

Another senior bar member said the existing sanitary pad vending machines have stopped functioning. “Menstrual cups can also be considered at public offices as they are a more cost-effective and sustainable alternative,” she said.

C.K. Sharma, the newly-elected bar council president, said a meeting was held with the office bearers and staff members of the district court last week. “Instructions were given to clean the toilets daily. A non-functional toilet near gate no. 8 will operate soon,” Sharma said.