Mumbai: More than 1,000 self-help groups have registered with the state government for distributing sanitary pads in rural areas of the state, with a packet of twenty pads costing Rs 5. The government of Maharashtra has launched the “Asmita Yojana” to distribute subsidised sanitary napkins to rural women in the state, even as a preliminary survey indicated that only 17 per cent of Maharashtra’s menstruating rural women use sanitary napkins.
Minister for rural and women and child development, Pankaja Munde, said that the “Asmita Yojana” will not subsidise or distribute napkins for free, however they will be sold at nominal prices and plans are afoot to provide them to all women in the state. “As per a preliminary survey, we found that currently, only 17 per cent of Maharashtra’s menstruating rural women use sanitary napkins. Through this scheme, we want to take the number to 70 per cent in the first phase and 100 per cent in the next phase,” said Ms Munde.
“So far, more than a 1,000 self-help groups have registered with us for the scheme. We hope to implement it on a large scale with the self-help groups. We would eventually want to have one self-help group in every village, and all menstruating girls to get pads which are hygienic,” she said.
The state government has issued tenders and is talking in advance with three small-scale enterprises to manufacture sanitary napkins. Self-help groups will sell these to women at a small profit. An eight-pad packet will be available for Rs 24 and Rs 29 in two specifications. While the scheme is initially aimed at women in rural areas of the state, the government hopes to expand it to urban centres too, by selling low-cost sanitary napkins online in future.
