To,
Rohit Pawar,
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly,
Karjat-Jamkhed constituency
Subject: Awareness about menstruation and menstrual hygiene management.
Dear Sir,
In our society, there is a lot of taboos,beliefs and superstitious practices around menstruation. There is too much silence around menstruation. In our Karjat-Jamkhed constituency, we can take some action for change.
A 2014 report by the NGO Dasra titled ‘Spot On!’ informed that almost 23 million girls in India drop out of school annually because of lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities and lack of awareness.
Role of teachers in creating awareness regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene management is very crucial. Therefore for breaking the silence, teachers training is very important for awareness building in schools. Also in every school there should be clean toilet, sufficient water., dustbin and incinerator.
Data states that a single woman can generate up to 125 kilograms of non-biodegradable waste during her menstrual years.
According to water aid India, it has been estimated that of the 121 million girls and women dispose of about 21,780 million pads annually, which poses a major threat to the country’s waste management crisis. In sanitary napkins there are chemical which is harmful for the body as well as the environment. Due to sanitary pads some women are facing the problems like UTI,RTI, vaginal infections, cervical cancer. Therefore smooth cloth pads are better for health as well as they are Eco friendly. Also there is a need to talk about others product like menstrual cup, tampon.
In rural areas, most of the women dispose the pads by wrapping and throwing in the dustbin along with other domestic waste.Incinerators are a better option for disposal but should be operated in a controlled environment so that harmful gasses emitted will not harm larger area.They should be installed in schools, institutions, and slum areas and at community level
In our Karjat taluka, there are around 118 villages and in Jamkhed taluka there are 88 villages.we can appointed minimum four period fellows for awareness building about menstruation in the community.
Incinerator and pad distribution is not only the solution but also the dialogue building within family, within school and within the community is very essential and it is a way towards sustainable solution.
I hope this letter will bring some action in reality and contribute for change.
Yours sincerely,
Nikita Patil, Amit Mohite.
Featured image is Representational.