Andhra Pradesh to provide free sanitary napkins to government school students

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Government launched a unique scheme ‘Swechha’ under which branded sanitary napkins would be supplied free to female students of Government educational institutions. The scheme intended to ensure affordable access to health and menstrual hygiene in adolescent girls and women, was launched by the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here on […]

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Government launched a unique scheme ‘Swechha’ under which branded sanitary napkins would be supplied free to female students of Government educational institutions. The scheme intended to ensure affordable access to health and menstrual hygiene in adolescent girls and women, was launched by the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Tuesday.

Under this initiative, the state government will provide ten sanitary napkins every month to about ten lakh adolescent girls studying from 7th to 12th grades in all government schools and intermediate colleges across the state at a financial outlay of Rs 32 crore. A total of 120 napkins per year is allotted to every female student, even during summer vacations, the students will be supplied with their quota before they leave school. The free branded sanitary products being supplied are a result of the state government entering MoUs with corporate conglomerates like P&G and Niine Pvt Ltd, the brands being supplied in government schools are Whisper and Niine.

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Additionally, through the MoUs signed, Sanitary napkins will be sold at YSR Cheyutha retail stores at lowered prices to around one crore women residing in both rural and urban areas. Each school will have a female educator appointed as a Nodal Officer to help the female students with sanitary napkins supply, safe methods of disposal, and any assistance the students may require. Further for a safer and environment-friendly way of disposal, the state government has set up 6,417 incinerators across the state through the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) initiative.

A report from the United Nations Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council estimated that 23% of girls in India drop out of school due to lack of menstruation products, inadequate surroundings to change sanitary napkins, lack of running water, and absence of disposal facilities. The State Government, through initiatives like Swechha, Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu, is making proactive steps in ensuring that the female student population continues to receive an education by providing all the aforementioned facilities required to empower and retain their students. Restroom facilities for girls with uninterrupted water supply are being built in 56,703 government schools, hostels, and educational institutions are set to be completed by July 2023. The construction of separate restrooms in 15,715 schools has already been completed.

As part of a monthly orientation program, Nodal Officers, ANMs and Mahila Police will gather at the local Sachivalayam to educate and create awareness amongst female students studying between classes 7th to 12th. The Chief Minister said “We are a government that strongly believes that the power to change history lies with the women in our state” let us help them move forward.

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