Purnia becomes first district in Bihar to launch menstrual hygiene management plan

District magistrate Rahul Kumar said with the cooperation of NGOs and UNICEF, the management plan first succeeded in the Kasba block, where it started as a pilot project in April last year

PURNIA: Purnia become the first Bihar district to launch an action plan for menstruation hygiene management on International Women’s Day on Tuesday, officials said.

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Government think-tank NITI Aayog has also approved a proposal of the district administration for toilets at 200 government schools in Purnia to promote menstrual hygiene.

Purnia district magistrate Rahul Kumar said that with the cooperation of NGOs and UNICEF, the management plan first succeeded in the Kasba block, where it started as a pilot project in April last year. He added that the NITI Aayog has allotted ₹4 crore for health and nutrition, growth monitoring devices, the toilets and to strengthen 237 panchayat libraries in the district.

Nav Astitwa Foundation founder Amrita Singh that they started the management in Kasba and within 11 months, they succeeded. “We have 300 master trainers,” she said. Singh added that there was some hesitancy during the first few weeks of the project.