Sanitary pad vending machines, which were earlier limited to corporate offices, has now reached government schools in Telangana, as the exercise of installing them has been taken up by the government.
While Rajbhavan High School installed the machine in the middle of last year, about eight schools in Warangal district have now taken up the initiative. The machines help schoolchildren buy sanitary pads without going to a vendor.
“Even today, children feel shy when they buy sanitary pads. Girls hesitate to buy them from medical stores. The vending machines are meant to popularise the use of pads and also make them available at schools for children to access them without any hassle,” said Srinivas Chary, director of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).
ASCI has taken up a sanitary mission in collaboration with the district administration in Warangal.
If the vending machines prove to be useful in these schools, they would be introduced at government schools in other districts too, ASCI authorities said.
In India, around 80% of adolescent girls still use cloth or absorbent material like ash during their menstrual cycle, said a report by the National Commission for Women in 2018. The previous year, the commission had also sent its recommendations supporting installation of such machines, to Ministry of Human Resource Development.
23% dropouts
The commission had highlighted that 23% of girls drop out of school owing to non-availability of sanitary products at schools. Apart from schools, the commission had also recommended installation of machines at colleges and universities.
With this initiative, Telangana could be one of the first States to opt for sanitary pad vending machines in government establishments, the ASCI team said.