Menstrual hygiene has been a concern in many schools in rural India. Basic WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities become a barrier to creating a safe environment for menstruating individuals. In many states, free pad schemes distribute packets of pads to girls every month. But who is monitoring the quality and effectiveness of these sanitary pads? Are the children really using it or not? Also, are the WASH facilities adequate in schools?
WASH facilities are often inadequate in institutions such as schools. Schools are the place where students spend the maximum of their productive time. With context to rural schools, many schools do not have adequate WASH facilities. According to the Annual Status of Education report 2016, only 74.1 per cent of schools have drinking water facilities, while just 61.9 per cent have separate toilet facilities for girls. The specified norm for the toilet-to-girl student ratio is 1:40, according to the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya guidelines. Along with gender-segregated toilet facility, handwashing units with soap should be provided.
Proper WASH facilities may encourage students to incorporate good hygienic habits in their daily lives. It can promote handwashing at critical times — i.e. before taking meals and after using the toilet. It will also promote handwashing with soap, which is even more crucial today because of the Covid-19 situation. Also, schools are the most appropriate place to build these habits as students imbibe what’s taught to them at a younger age.
So, instilling WASH practices from a young age is beneficial, especially in times of Covid-19, where handwashing is a highlighted measure to prevent infection. The best hygienic practices are taught to students by schools that have proper WASH facilities. But what about the schools that don’t have adequate WASH facilities?
The Disquieting Figure
In an appalling article by the NDTV, it was stated that 23 million women in India drop out of school every year when they start menstruating due to lack of menstrual hygiene management in schools. The reasons for this lack of management are lack of functional toilets and sanitary napkins, and low menstrual awareness.
Providing WASH facilities is only one part of the service. If water is available, but is not of good quality or, in a similar manner, if toilets are built but not maintained, then it again poses an equivalent problem of inadequate WASH facility standards.
Steps Taken by Authorities
Now, let’s highlight the free pad schemes that governments have incorporated to supply free pads to school-going girls. In 2010, the MoHFW launched a pilot project called Freeday Pad Scheme to supply sanitary pads to rural girls at a subsidised rate. After this, the government introduced the Sabla scheme, with menstrual hygiene as its central component. The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (a sanitation mission) launched by the Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation also focuses on menstrual hygiene.
In 2014, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) allocated funds for raising awareness on menstrual hygiene in villages through IEC (Information, Education, Communication) activities. Since 2018, many state governments have launched schemes to supply free pads to rural women and girls in schools: Kerala’s She Pad Scheme, Chhattisgarh’s Suchita Scheme, Maharashtra’s Asmita Scheme, Odisha’s Khushi Scheme and Andhra Pradesh’s Raksha Scheme.
While on one hand, schemes are launched for school-going girls, on the other, there are reports of a large number of girls dropping out of schools (5.13 lakh girls in Uttar Pradesh dropped out) due to lack of sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities in schools. Isn’t it ironical that such an outsized number of girls skip school due to lack of WASH facilities during menstruation while governments are focusing on providing free pads. To whom are these pads being provided then?
Also, as menstruation isn’t a frequently discussed topic, who is monitoring the standard of the distributed pads? Is someone liable for taking feedback of the students who receive the pads? There are some unanswered questions.
My Opinion
The steps that people in authority take towards menstrual hygiene should be chronological.
Firstly, the focus should be on providing adequate water and sanitation facilities, such as handwashing units within the prescribed ratio and with soap facilities in a sustainable manner.
The next step should be installing a pad-vending machine and a proper disposable system in schools. For all these to be functional, water should be available within an accepted quantity and quality.
So, for students to be present in school physically and mentally, dealing with WASH facilities must be done adequately.
Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) allocated funds for raising awareness on menstrual hygiene in villages through IEC activities. Since 2018, many state governments have launched schemes to supply free pads to rural women and girls in schools: Kerala’s She Pad Scheme, Chhattisgarh’s Suchita Scheme, Maharashtra’s Asmita Scheme, Odisha’s Khushi Scheme and Andhra Pradesh’s Raksha Scheme