In J&K battle zone, govt now focuses on girls’ hygiene

In the battle-zones of restive Jammu and Kashmir, the government will gift sanitary napkins to eves to fight growing reproductive tract infections and help in maintaining menstrual hygiene.

Ten districts of Jammu and Kashmir have been selected among the elite club 107 of districts in whole of the country under the scheme for promotion of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls (10-19 years) in rural areas.

Most of the districts selected for this scheme are highly infested by militants and close to borders.  Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora districts of north Kashmir and Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar districts of Jammu are regarded as the hub of militancy.

Leaving behind the fear factor, the government has now decided to focus on the girls living in these areas. And special emphasis is now being laid on menstrual hygiene and countering reproductive infections among the girls.

“Chances of reproductive tract infections in these areas are very high. Poor menstrual hygiene is the biggest reason for that.  Therefore we have decided to distribute these napkins to the girls”, said Yashpal Sharma, mission director-National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), J&K.  Jammu and Kashmir has 22 per cent adolescent population of which 48 per cent comprises girls.

And a majority of them reside in rural areas who have no knowledge of the sanitary napkins.