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No sanitary pad disposal mechanism in CSIR institutes: PhD student tells minister
The PhD student in question, Minal Bhalerao, during an interaction with union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday flagged the lack of a proper sanitary pad disposal mechanism in several institutes of the CSIR
PUNE A female research scholar from the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), on Sunday raised the issue of the absence of a sanitary pad disposal mechanism in research institutes. This comes a day after the CSIR-NCL hosted a mini exhibition on start-ups, where innovations such as the first smokeless sanitary pad disposal and recycling system were showcased.
The PhD student in question, Minal Bhalerao, during an interaction with union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday flagged the lack of a proper sanitary pad disposal mechanism in several institutes of the CSIR. Singh had visited the NCL to inaugurate the new institutional building of CSIR-URDIP.
“I don’t know whether it is the right platform but recently, we came across many CSIR institutes which do not have proper sanitary pad disposal machines. So, what is the ministry of science and technology doing for the betterment of female researchers?” Bhalerao asked during the interaction with the minister.
Replying to her, Singh said, “Of course, that is an issue. I think the fact that there were fewer female researchers in the past also has a bearing. As the number of female researchers has been increasing, that will also be taken care of.” Singh said that he had visited a leading medical institute a few years ago and found that there were no decent toilets for women there. “I said at least arrange for a toilet because what about medicos on night shifts? But now there is increasing awareness and it has been taken care of,” he said.
While the minister of state for science and technology acknowledged the issue raised by Bhalerao during the Sunday interaction, NCL director Dr Ashish Lele said that the start-up next door to NCL (at Venture centre) was looking into this problem and had an inventive solution for it. “We are trying to bring that solution by deploying it in hostels and laboratories. It is taking a little time but at least there is a solution in place next door. The director of Venture centre is very much here,” Lele said. Venture centre is a business incubator focusing on technology commercialisation via spin-offs/spin-outs while nurturing start-ups in India.
Earlier on Saturday, the minister had asked the founders of start-ups present at the exhibition to approach the department of science and technology for liberal funding to scale up such global innovations. He had also appealed to industries to partner with such success stories to render India’s start-up ecosystem more vibrant and result-oriented. Singh also inaugurated Bisphenol, a pilot plant at the NCL. Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an important feedstock for producing epoxy resins, polycarbonate and other engineering plastics.
(With agency inputs)
