Scale up efforts on menstrual hygiene awareness in schools: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court’s order came on a plea filed by advocate Setu Niket who claimed there had been a rise in the number of girls aged 10 dropping out of schools due to lack of education on menstruation. It said the girls drop out because of the hurdles they face during this stage.

The Delhi High Court has asked the state government to scale up efforts in creating awareness about menstrual hygiene in schools, hold interactive sessions every two weeks for students to remain updated and get their queries answered by counsellors.

The Delhi High Court has asked the state government to scale up efforts in creating awareness about menstrual hygiene in schools. (Shutterstock Image)

A bench of Justice G S Sistani and Justice Jyoti Singh directed the city government and all municipal corporations to provide a break-up of the number of co-educational and girls-only schools.

The court’s order came on a plea filed by advocate Setu Niket who claimed there had been a rise in the number of girls aged 10 dropping out of schools due to lack of education on menstruation. It said the girls drop out because of the hurdles they face during this stage.

On August 13, advocate Sanjoy Ghose, the Delhi government’s additional standing counsel, informed the court that the UDAAN Scheme was in place to provide sanitary napkins to adolescent girls at a subsidised rate of ₹6. He said 45,000 non-school going adolescent girls have been regularly availing of the scheme.

“The government purchased 14.4 lakh sanitary napkins for ₹28 lakh and another supply worth ₹9 lakh is in the pipeline, stocks of which would be received in the stores between August 13 and August 16. However, there is no specific information whether the same has been received by now or not,” the affidavit said. It said 42,700 adolescent girls had been educated in the first quarter of 2019-20 about menstrual hygiene.

Ghose told the court that free sanitary napkins had been given to girls in the Delhi government-run schools under the Kishori Yojana.

The court asked the authorities to inform if any common circular had been issued to all the heads of institutions on educating girls about menstrual hygiene. It sought to know if any power point presentation or any other material had been circulated so that there is uniformity in the information being imparted to the children.

“The aim and object of the schemes should be first to educate the children, remove their doubts and educate them about the reasons and the importance of personal hygiene,” the court said in its August 13 order, adding every effort should be made to ensure privacy.

The court said a circular detailing these aspects, if not issued, should be sent to schools within four weeks. It also said counsellors, if not present, should be made available in four weeks.

Binay Bhushan, director, directorate of education, said they were yet to receive the order. “We are already providing regular workshops and awareness campaigns on menstruation in government schools. We will surely follow the court’s directions,” he said.

The court asked the authorities to file affidavits within six weeks and posted the matter for October 18.