No sanitary pad disposal mechanism in many CSIR institutes: PhD student tells Union minister

Pune: A woman PhD student from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory in Pune on Sunday flagged the lack of a proper sanitary pad disposal mechanism at CSIR institutes in an interaction with Union minister Jitendra Singh. The Minister of State for Science and Technology acknowledged the issue, while the institute's director said an "inventive" solution is in the offing and will be deployed at the hostels and labs.

Singh visited the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-NCL to inaugurate the new institutional building of CSIR-URDIP. "I do not know whether it is the right platform but recently we came across that there are many CSIR institutes which do not have proper sanitary pad disposal machines. So what is the ministry of Science and Technology doing for the betterment of female researchers?" the research student asked during the interaction with the minister.

Also read | All 23 AIIMS to be named after local heroes, monuments, geographical identities

Replying to her, Singh said, "Of course, that is an issue. I think the fact that there were fewer female researchers in the past also has a bearing. As the number of female researchers has been increasing, that will also be taken care of". Singh said he had visited a leading medical institute a few years ago and found there were no decent toilets for women.

"I said at least arrange for a toilet because what about medicos on night shifts? But now there is increasing awareness and it has been taken care of," he said.

CSIR-NCL director Dr Ashish Lele, when asked by the minister to elaborate on the issue raised by the PhD student, said the start-up next door to NCL (at the Venture Centre) was looking into this problem and has an inventive solution for it.

Also read | JEE Advanced 2022 admit card tomorrow at jeeadv.ac.in

"We are trying to bring that solution by deploying it in hostels and laboratories. It is taking little time, but at least there is a solution in place next door. The director of Venture Centre is very much here," Lele said.

Venture Centre is a business incubator focusing on technology commercialization via spin-offs/spinouts while nurturing startups in India. Singh also inaugurated Bisphenol- a pilot plant at CSIR-NCL. Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an important feedstock for producing epoxy resins, polycarbonate, and other engineering plastics.