Over 11,500 Hyderabad government schoolgirls to get free sanitary napkins

HYDERABAD: As many as 11,615 female students in 75 government schools in five mandals across Telangana will soon get free sanitary napkins as part of a pilot project by National Institute of Rural Development in Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) in collaboration with public sector enterprise Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
Of the 75 schools, 10 are in Gandipet, 16 in Moinabad, 11 in Rajendranagar, 17 in Serilingampally and 21 in Shamshabad. The girls of the schools will be given a pack containing eight napkins every month for a year.
According to a press release issued by NIRDPR, the project under Bharat Dynamics Limited’s corporate social responsibility initiatives is likely to be expanded to 22 more mandals. “The public enterprise has provided a funding of Rs 71.82 lakh for the project. Sanitary napkins will be supplied to students free of cost by a team of volunteers and female teachers of the schools,” read the press release.
The objective of the project is to create awareness on health and menstrual hygiene along with sociological and environmental issues among rural adolescent girls.
“We have also prepared IEC material in both Telugu and English that will be useful not only for students, but also other women in the villages. We will procure napkins mainly from self-help group entrepreneurs and also call for open tenders to meet additional requirements if any,” said professor R Murugesan, Centre for CSR head, Public Private Partnership and People’s Action, NIRDPR.
As per the department of secondary education, 38,656 girl students study in Telangana’s 419 public schools. To attain the objectives, NIRDPR is reviewing a range of economic, social, cultural and geographical conditions with representatives of beneficiaries in the sample areas. The project will also include focus group discussions (FGD) to sensitise respondents.