Bihar student who raised sanitary pad question gets sponsor for education, pads

Riya Kumari, 20, the Bihar student who sought free sanitary pads for girls in the state, said she had many other questions in mind but could not ask them

PATNA: Riya Kumari, the 20-year-old student from Bihar who was rebuked by a Bihar bureaucrat for seeking free sanitary pads, will not just get a year’s supply but also funding for her education.

Riya Kumari flagged the need for the government to supply free sanitary pads to a senior Bihar IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra (ANI /Videograb)

A Delhi-headquartered feminine hygiene firm on Friday said it will pay not just for Riya Kumari’s graduation - she is currently enrolled in a BA course at Ram Vilas Rai College, Hajipur in Vaishali - but also supply its ‘everteen’ sanitary pads for the next one year.

At a workshop in Patna on September 27, Riya Kumari flagged the need for the government to supply free sanitary pads to a senior Bihar IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra and when she was snubbed by the official, the first-year undergraduate student stood her ground.

“Tomorrow you will ask the government for jeans and later beautiful jeans. In the end, you will ask the government for family planning methods and free condoms too,” Bhamra retorted. The official regretted her comments on Thursday after a barrage of criticism.

“We are rewarding Riya for her boldness to raise from a public forum the issue of easy access to menstrual hygiene methods for poor girls and women living in slums,” said Hariom Tyagi, chief executive officer (CEO) of Wet and Dry Personal Care, the company which manufactures everteen sanitary pads.

“Talking about menstrual hygiene is considered to be taboo in India, and Riya was bold enough to speak about it at a public forum. This will encourage a lot of girls to speak up on the issue,” he added.

“We have also decided to sponsor Riya’s education up to graduation level for the time being. If in future, she wants any other help or support and we feel that this is an area where we can contribute to making her quality of life better, we will do it,” said Tyagi.

Riya Kumari, who lost her father, a porter in 2020, said she was grateful for the gesture. Her elder brother, Ghosu Paswan, works as a porter to support his six siblings and mother, a homemaker.

“The company has communicated that it will sponsor my studies up to graduation and also provide me free sanitary pads for a year,” said Riya.

Looking back at the event on Tuesday that led to outrage at the bureaucrat’s conduct, Riya said, “It was not a big demand that I made. I just said that the government should provide free sanitary pads because as it is, the government is giving lots of free things. The poor rag-pickers in the slum where I stay, find it difficult even to spend ₹40 on sanitary pads. They think by adding another ₹20, they will earn two square meals in a day, and they sacrifice the sanitary pad.”

“I had many more questions in mind, but could not ask all of them... Madam’s response was not in sync with the programme, which was for the girl child,” she added.