Assam group gifts sanitary pads to Health Minister

A group of women’s rights advocates has gifted a box of sanitary pads each to Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) for “drawing the State government’s attention to the plight of women living in flood relief shelters”.

Almost 57 lakh people had been affected during the floods from May 22 to mid-August during which 113 people drowned while 26 others died in landslides caused by heavy rainfall. The government had set up 626 relief camps to house 1.57 lakh people, more than half of them women.

“We delivered the gift boxes, each containing 300 pads and hygiene kits, to the Minister’s and the ASDMA office toward including menstrual hygiene products in the list of essential relief materials provided by the government at the flood shelters,” said activist Mayuri Bhattacharjee of the Dignity in Floods campaign.

Her group had begun the campaign through Change.org in 2018 but the State government had in 2019 said pads could not be distributed for a “technical” reason – they were not in the official list of relief material.

ASDMA’s Chief Executive Officer M.S. Manivannan confirmed receiving the gift box. “I have spoken to the organisation for taking the issue forward,” he said.