Local self-help groups in Maharashtra to provide sanitary napkins for schoolgirls at Rs 5 per pack

The Maharashtra women and child development minister Pankaja Munde on Monday said that local Self Help Groups (SHGs) will provide sanitary napkins to school girls at Rs 5 per pack.

The scheme has been named as 'Asmita' and aims to support all school going adolescent girls. BMC has already installed sanitary napkin machines in many civic-run schools in Mumbai.

Munde said the work to provide napkins will be given to self-help groups in villages. The government would provide them napkin making machine and subsidy.

Menstrual hygiene is a serious issue in the state and even across India. More than 1/3^rd of girls in the state don't have access to sanitary napkins, national family health survey has revealed recently. Nationally, half of the young Indian women can't afford hygienic product.

These underprivileged girls are forced to use unhygienic methods during menstruation and often drop of the school for the same reason.

Several NGOs and opposition parties have raised this issue with Union and state finance ministry and have been demanding exemption of sanitary napkins from the GST. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has not given any relief so far.