Even though the central government last week announced that a sanitary napkin at Jan Aushadhi stores will be available at ₹1, a reality check in the stores of Chandigarh revealed that since last month, there are no napkins in the stores.
Hartesh, an employee at one of the stores, said earlier the supply of packets was smooth but it has been erratic for the last few weeks.
Union minister for chemicals and fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda last week launched a mobile application ‘Janaushadhi Sugam’ and announced that ‘Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Oxo-Biodegradable Sanitary Napkin’ will now be available at only ₹1 per pad —a 60% drop from previous price ₹2.5.
Jawahira Bano (31), a labourer from Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, who regularly purchases sanitary napkins from Jan Aushadhi store at Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, told Hindustan Times she only started using them after she got to know they were so cheap.
The average price of sanitary napkins available elsewhere in the market is around ₹8 per pad.
“The napkins available at other stores are expensive. I visit them (Jan Aushadhi stores) every month to check for availability of napkins. Only sometimes, I get lucky,” Bano said.
{{/usCountry}}“The napkins available at other stores are expensive. I visit them (Jan Aushadhi stores) every month to check for availability of napkins. Only sometimes, I get lucky,” Bano said.
{{/usCountry}}The Suvidha napkins have a special additive which makes them 100% biodegradable when they reacts with oxygen after being used and discarded.
An official associated with the functioning of Jan Aushadhi stores in Chandigarh, on the condition of anonymity, said orders for the pads have already been placed and in one week they will be available.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign had assured that within 100 days, poor women of the country will be provided sanitary napkins at ₹1.