CHENNAI: The state government has informed the Madras High Court that there is no proposal for distributing sanitary napkins to women and children free of cost or at subsidised rates through ration shops.
Advocate General PS Raman made the submission on Tuesday before the first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan when a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate Lakshmi Raja of Chennai came up for hearing. The state will incur an expenditure of Rs 4,000 crore for distributing sanitary napkins through public distribution scheme (PDS) shops free of cost and so the government does not propose to bring in any such scheme, he told the bench. He noted that the sanitary napkins are being distributed to postnatal women and schoolgirls through village health nurses and a large number of women are benefiting through this supply.
The petitioner had moved the court seeking a direction to issue sanitary napkins to women and schoolchildren free of cost or at subsidised rate through PDS shops since women from economically weaker sections and rural areas cannot afford to pay for the napkins. Stressing the need for menstrual health, the petitioner noted that the poor women have been using alternative unsafe materials during menstrual time as they cannot afford to buy the napkins.
The bench directed the petitioner and the government to collect the details of number of women below poverty line and economically backward sections so as to extend the free napkin distribution scheme; and adjourned the hearing by four weeks.