NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre and state’s responses in a plea to provide free sanitary napkins to girls studying from class 6th to 12th. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha noted that the plea raised the important issues of sanitation and hygiene of young female students and thus sought the assistance of SG Tushar Mehta.
The plea wherein relief was also sought for the provision of the separate toilet in all government and residential schools argued that inadequate Menstrual Hygiene Management options were major barriers to education since many girls dropped out of school due to lack of access to sanitation facilities.
The plea highlighted the lack of access to hygienic methods for females aged 11 to 16 years. “Menstruation makes the need for safe water, sanitation and hygiene, especially, important for women. In such conditions, access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene can be a matter of life and death."
According to a report published by Water Aid, illnesses related to a lack of water, basic sanitation and hygiene were responsible for the deaths of almost 800,000 women around the world in a single year making it the fifth biggest killer of women behind heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”, the plea had stated.
Dr Jaya Thakur in the plea had also sought three stage awareness programme for creating awareness about menstrual health, provision of sanitation facilities as well as ensuring an efficient manner for sanitary waste disposal.