COVID-19: Lockdown halts distribution of sanitary pads in govt schools

NEW DELHI: The lockdown has hit girls’ access to sanitary pads in Delhi and Rajasthan.

The worst affected are the school girls in remote areas as the distribution of sanitary pads has come to a grinding halt..

The Hindustan Times reported that most of the girls seem to have switched to using cloth pads in the absence of usual ready-made sanitary pads.

“I had received my last packet of pads from the school in February. Now, me and my sister (14) are both using cloth pieces. It’s really uncomfortable, but we can’t help,” said 16-year old Shagun who is a Class 9 student at government girls senior secondary school in Sangam Vihar.

She used to get a packet of sanitary napkins every month from her school,

To promote menstrual hygiene, the state governments distribute sanitary napkin packets to girls and women in government schools and anganwadi centres, across the country, every month.

The female students of Class 6 to 12 in government schools receive sanitary pads under a central government programme, Kishori Shakti Yojna.

The nationwide lockdown brought in by the Union Government to fight the coronavirus pandemic led to a shutdown of several essential goods manufacturing companies like sanitary pads. The commodities covered under the Essential Commodity Act do not include sanitary pads in most states.

“We can sacrifice other things, but periods don’t stop because of a pandemic,” another girl whose father, an e-rickshaw driver, has not been able to go to work due to the lockdown since last month, told Hindustan Times.

“People like us who can’t afford to buy sanitary napkins have to make alternate arrangements. I hope my school can provide some by next month,” she added.

Experts say that the non-availability of sanitary pads poses a risk of infection among females.

Some government school teachers said that they have been receiving distress calls from their students, Hindustan Times reported.

The Rajasthan State Child Rights Commission has initiated an inquiry into the matter.

"The issue has been brought to my notice that sanitary pads are not available to school-going girls in remote areas as schools are closed due to lockdown. I have asked officials to inquire into the matter and submit a report to take further action," Sangeeta Beniwal, chairperson of Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights told Press Trust of India .

Binay Bhushan of the directorate of education, Delhi Government told Hindustan Times : “The situation is very difficult these days. It will be difficult to distribute sanitary pads from schools and we do not have any mechanism for home delivery. We will have to come up with an alternative,” he said.

Non-government organizations, or NGOs, have said that they are also going to discuss the matter with government officials,Hindustan Times reported.

Some of the states like Telangana and Karnataka have listed sanitary napkins, soap and other hygienic products as essential goods.

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