Free sanitary pads to school girls when needed: South Delhi civic body
Shikha Rai acknowledged that there was still a lot of taboo attached to menstrual hygiene, and 'many girls skip schools during cycle'.
New Delhi: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation or SDMC House on Monday cleared the civic body's annual budget, which includes property tax exemption for medal winners in Olympics and other top games, and free-of-cost sanitary pads to girls in schools when needed.
Leader of the House in the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Shikha Rai, finalised the estimated SDMC budget for 2018-19, and rejected the new tax and hike in the property tax proposed in the Commissioner's budget in December.
The budget was cleared in a special session of the SDMC House chaired by Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat. The decisions approved will come into effect after formal approval by the municipal commissioner.
"Martyrs belonging to the armed forces and the para- military forces and their widows; medal winners in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will get full exemption on payment of property tax for one residential property," the SDMC said.
"Ex-servicemen are to get 30 per cent rebate, on lumpsum payment of property tax, up to June 30, for one residential property," it said.
Shikha Rai later interacting with reporters, acknowledged that there was still a lot of taboo attached to menstrual hygiene, and "many girls skip schools during menstruation".
"So, we have decided to give sanitary pads to girls in schools, when they need it. We have also sensitised our teachers about it," she said.
The budget has also accepted one of the suggestions made by BJP's Malviya Nagar councillor Nandini Sharma, to offer wood shavings for use in the funeral pyre, to the poor at no cost.
"The wood left from pruning of trees and plants will be given to the poor for free for cremation. So, the department concerned would coordinate with the horticulture department in future," she said in her budget speech.
Incidentally, the Opposition AAP heckled her multiple times, saying, many of the announcements made by Shikha Rai, including on the matter of all 104 wards of SDMC becoming open defecation-free, were "mere claims" and "existed on papers only".