New Delhi, Oct 3: East Coast Railway (ECoR) will install automatic sanitary napkin vending machines in all important trains originating from its jurisdiction, a Railways official said Tuesday.
ECoR will start installing the sanitary napkin vending machines in 90 compartments of 63 trains from Gandhi Jayanti today, he said.
The 25 trains where the vending machines include the three Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express trains, Puri-New Delhi Purusottam Express, Puri-Anand Vihar Nandankanan Express, Puri-Anand Vihar Neelachal Express, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Odisha Sampark Kranti Express, Bhubaneswar-LTT bi-weekly Express, and Visakhapatnam-New Delhi AP AC Express trains.
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The price of a sanitary napkin would be Rs 5 and passengers can get them by inserting a Rs 5 coin in the vending machines. The machines can vend 75 pads at a time.
This initiative is a part of ECoR's drive to improve sanitation and hygiene. The East Coast Railway Women's Welfare Organisation (ECoRWWO) led by its president Madhulika Singh which is engaged with various philanthropic and socio-cultural activities sponsored the machines.
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A recent study by The Neilson Company and NGO Plan India showed that almost 88 per cent of Indian women do not use or do not have access to sanitary pads.