In August 2022, Scotland became the first country in the world to offer period products for free. Free access to sanitary products is now a legal right in Scotland. Does this have any lessons for India? India is a land of freebies. TVs, radios, washing machines and laptops are commonly distributed as freebies during elections but sanitary napkins distribution is always hushed up. Perhaps menstruation is still a stigma in Indian society, hence nobody wants to talk about it. Ending “period poverty” has never been on our country’s agenda.
But a recent query by a girl in Bihar has highlighted the need for making sanitary napkins more affordable.Although the girl was disappointed by the terse reply of the government official, however, it is time that our legislators take a leaf out of Scotland’s law and make access to free sanitary products a legal right in India too.
When my college senior wrote a blog on this topic (which can be found here), I was not much interested in the topic.Gender was always a boring topic for me.Now I have been assigned the task of monitoring the schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development(WCD) at office.Hence,I have started taking interest in gender issues.They are not that boring.The issues are real and have a deep impact on society.
Before I make a case for free distribution of sanitary products,I would like to discuss what is being already done to ensure menstrual hygiene at the Central and State level.
What is being done?
Menstruation is a subject matter concerned with women, hence at the Central level,one would expect Ministry of Women and Child Development(WCD) to be running a scheme related to it.But no! it’s not WCD, it is the Ministry of Health and the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers that have schemes related to menstrual hygiene.
Under the National Health Mission, the Ministry of Health has a component called the “Menstrual Hygiene Scheme(MHS)” under which funds are provided to states/UTs for decentralised procurement of sanitary napkins. These napkins are to be distributed by ASHAs at Anganwadis to rural adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years at a subsidized rate of Rs 6 for a pack of 6 napkins.
It has been reported that the scheme faces procurement hurdles and also,the scheme is restricted to rural areas and limited to a specific age group. As a result, unprivileged women in urban areas and women aged 20 years and above in rural areas remain excluded under this scheme.
This problem is somewhat addressed by Department of Pharmaceuticals’ scheme called “Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).”Under it,oxo biodegradable sanitary napkins called Suvidha pads are being provided at Jan Aushadhi centres present mostly in urban areas at only One rupee per pad.The scheme is also being tracked under the Output-Outcome framework.However,the awareness still remains low.
I tested the awareness of my domestic help. She still uses cloth for managing her periods. And she has never heard about Jan Aushadhi stores. Honestly, even I have never been to any such store in my district. In a big district like Gurugram, there are only 5 functional Jan aushadhi centres as per the Ministry’s website. Clearly, Jan Aushadhi kendras are too scarce and thus, affordable sanitary napkins still remain beyond the reach of unprivileged women.
Although there is an excellent app called “Janaushadhi Sugam” which helps to locate the nearby janaushadhi stores with sanitary napkins, yet not many poor women possess the digital literacy to use these apps effectively.
According to NFHS-5, at the all-India level, 77.3% women aged 15-24 years use hygienic methods of protection during their menstrual period.Hygienic methods of protection include locally prepared napkins, sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups.However,if we look at the sub-national data, we find that the situation is most acute in Bihar where less than 60% women are able to use hygienic methods of protection during their periods.That the recent controversy occurred in Bihar should not surprise us.
Other states where the percentage of young women observing menstrual hygiene remains below the national average of 77.3% are Madhya Pradesh(60.5%), Meghalaya(65%). Gujarat(66%), Assam(66.3%), Chattisgarh(69%), Tripura(69%), Uttar Pradesh(72.6%) and Jammu and Kashmir(73.4%).
Tamil Nadu,Kerala,Haryana,Punjab,Delhi and Puducherry are the best performing states and UTs with regards to observance of menstrual hygiene among young women.Different states do have schemes related to free distribution of sanitary napkins to school-going girls.Although Covid caused a disruption but fortunately,with the reopening of schools,we are back to normal now.
What more needs to be done?
There is no doubt that access to sanitary products needs to be universalised.Although it is commendable that we are no less than Scotland when it comes to provision of free sanitary napkins in government schools in many states.However,providing pads in schools is not enough.According to UDISE+ 2020-21 report,the Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER) of girls is around 93% in upper primary(6 to 8).It drops to 80% at secondary level(9 to 10) and it further drops to 55% at higher secondary level(11 to 12).Thus,7% girls belonging to the age group of upper primary(11-13 years) do not go to schools.20% girls in the secondary age group and a whopping 45% girls in the higher secondary age group do not attend schools.Thus,these girls are unable to benefit from free sanitary napkins available at schools.
These girls either depend on their parents’ income or their own income to buy some form of a sanitary product.Given Jan Aushadhi stores are not so common,a normal girl would visit a nearby chemist store.A pack of 6 pads of decent quality would cost her around 50 rupees.Assuming a household has at least 2 women,maintainence of menstrual hygience would require at least 100 rupees per month.Given the national minimum wage is Rs 178 per day,it is not hard to see how expensive sanitary napkins can be for families engaged in precarious jobs.Food,clothing and shelter are always the top priorities of any family.Expenditure on sanitary napkin is invariably a residual.Thus,many women have no choice but to adopt unhygienic methods to manage their periods.There is sufficient evidence to show that poor menstrual hygiene can lead to several infections and increase the susceptability to cervical cancer.
Given the usage of sanitary napkins has many positive externalities on health,labour productivity and education outcomes,the socially optimum quantity of sanitary napkins will always be more than the private equilibrium quantity obtained if markets operated freely.Thus,the state needs to provide a subsidy to achieve the social optimum.The Indian government is already providing Suvidha pads at a price of one rupee per pad.But still a lot of women remain deprived of these.Either the government needs to increase the Jan Aushadhi stores manifold or a simpler way is to go the Scotland way.Make the sanitary napkins free for all and mandate the public libraries,swimming pools,pharmacies,dispensaries and the community centres(which are more visible and accessible as compared to Jan Aushadhi stores) to provide free sanitary napkins to whoever needs them.The idea is to increase the points of supply to meet the demand.
A dedicated app on sanitary products like the Scotland’s PickMyPeriod app can help women locate the nearest location with free sanitary products.Awareness levels definitely need to be raised.The government alone cannot do it.It is incumbent on all of us to raise awareness of our domestic workers or any unprivileged person we come in contact with.A little bit of care and concern can go a long way in empowering the women of our country.And let’s talk about periods.If we can talk about toilets,then why not about periods?Enough of hush-hush!
LEARNING BY DOING 