HYDERABAD: After gaining prominence in the Swachh Survekshan-2018 rankings, where it ranked third at the national level and first among southern States, the Peddapalli district administration took up an ambitious plan to ensure sanitary pads to every woman in the district.
The plan took shape through an exclusive sanitary pad production unit set up by a self-help group (SHG). Sabala, the brainchild of Collector Sri Devasena, not only provided a low-cost option for menstrual hygiene but also set a benchmark for eco-friendly pads that soon became instrumental in removing the taboo around menstruation.
“We started the district brand of sanitary napkins through SHGs of 12 trained members. With a loan of `45 lakh, the unit was set up to produce napkins at a per-unit cost of `2,” said Devasena.
In fact, the unit was set up at a time when people spoke about menstruation in hushed tones. But soon enough, school students to grown women were speaking publicly about the issue. “But accessibility and disposal remained to be dealt with. Sabala was an initiative by women, for women. The members took indent from each house and passed it off to the manufacturing unit, and the same network was retraced to supply pads at the doorstep. This solved the accessibility issue,” said the collector. Since the pads were made of super-absorbent polymer, they are eco-friendly and disintegrate in the water.
Within a few months, there was a 50 per cent drop in the number of women approaching hospitals complaining of infections associated with urinary and reproductive systems.