Urban India is celebrating forward-looking policies initiated by few emerging Indian Startups to provide paid leaves to its female employees. Surely, such steps reflect a positive outlook of the merging Nation and the change in the mindset. However, the question that continues to haunt the nation is, ‘Are We Still on the Mark in Rural India?’ when it comes to menstrual hygiene.
As per a report published by NDTV, as many as 60,000 cases of cervical cancer deaths are reported every year from India. Two-third deaths of this total number of the cases reported are from rural India and mainly due to poor menstrual hygiene. While the Indian Government has taken an active initiative to curb the pressing problem, yet the loop in the system still triggers the ongoing discussion.
Is the policy flawed? The answer to this question is ‘No’ as the underlying facets of it like- Increase in the initiative to educate adolescent girls in rural India about menstrual hygiene; increase in the distribution and usage of sanitary pads in rural areas and Safeguarding disposal of used napkins in the environment to check the spread of unwanted diseases are point on a solution to the problem.
However, in the COVID-19 situation, the failure of the policy surfaced out mainly due to procurement issues, high costs, lack of knowledge and lack of disposal facilities as pointed out by a report in the Live Mint.
All in all, what seems to be a remedy to the solution and making the policy a success story in India, is the active participation of volunteering initiative to execute the tenets underlaid by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India. Thus, apart from the active participation of the government, the role of non-governmental organizations such as Goonj, Sukhibhava Foundation, OneIndia, Amari Foundation, WASH and many others will remain decisive in this area as these organizations have been working hard towards downsizing the poor state of women health and hygiene in rural India.