The Jharkhand government will purchase sanitary napkins from Self-help Groups (SHGs) for distribution among schoolgirls, Chief Minister Raghubar Das has said.
The government had during the recent budget session taken this decision to empower women working in SHGs, the CM told reporters after inspecting a sanitary napkin manufacturing centre at Bagunhatu in Jamshedpur East constituency, his home turf.
Das had won five times in a row from the constituency since 1995.
Tata Steel, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, has been providing training to women in SHGs to make sanitary napkins.
Altogether 15 SHGs here have been engaged in napkin manufacturing work in Bagunhatu, the CM said, adding that the initiative is aimed at promoting self-employment.
The state that was spending around Rs 25 crores annually to buy sanitary napkins from contractors will now procure them from these self-help groups, he said.
Appealing to the media to promote locally made goods, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of doubling the income of poor can be fulfilled by endorsing products of small and cottage industries.
The CM appreciated the women engaged in manufacturing the napkins and said the initiative will benefit families that do not have a proper source of income.
The state government’s move comes at a time when people have been actively participating in actor Akshay Kumar’s Pad Man Challenge on social media to promote menstrual hygiene.
