Every month millions of adolescent girls around the world face a miserable cycle of pain, anxiety and discomfort. In many places still there are limited resources of sanitary products. In order to empower girls and give a little relief during the hard days, Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘Swechha Scheme’ for adolescent girls. It is an initiative to promote health and hygiene among the adolescent girls. Under this scheme, the government will distribute quality sanitary napkins in government schools and colleges free of cost.
120 napkins per year
The state government will provide quality sanitary napkins to over 10 lakh girl students in grades 7th to 12th. Each student will receive 120 napkins per year. This will cost around 32 crores. In addition, the female students will be instructed on how to properly dispose of sanitary pads.
23% of girls do not go to school during menstruation
During the launch of the program, the Chief Minister said, “Around 23 per cent of girls in this country do not attend school and college during menstruation. To change these circumstances, the state government is improving toilets in government institutions and launching the ‘Swachh’ programme. He said that under this initiative, women teachers, ANMS and women police personnel would be made aware about menstruation once a month to the students studying in class VII to XII.”
Minister for Women and Child Welfare T. Vanitha said,” Napkins were being procured from Procter & Gamble and nine other companies. Stocks required for October and November have already been sent to schools”