Sewa to give wings to rural women

AHMEDABAD: Soon Shital Parmar, a 15-year-old girl from Soldi village in Surendranagar, will no longer have to miss school during those days of the month just because she is poor and cannot afford access to hygienic sanitation material. Period.
Prompted by the widespread suffering of women and girls in rural areas who continue to be plagued by unhygienic old cloth pieces or rags during periods, Self Employed Women’s Association (Sewa) on Saturday began production of the first-ever low cost sanitary pads in Ahmedabad.
The manufacturing unit has been set up at Saraspur for Rs 15 lakh. The current production capacity is 2,000 pads per day. Interestingly, these pads will be made from waste which is generated from the organization’s textile and garment manufacturing unit.
Non-woven fabric bought from the market will also be used. These will be priced at an economical 80 paise to Re 1 per pad. In the market, a range of sanitary pads available cost anywhere between Rs 3 and Rs 5 per pad.
“Price of pads has been kept very low as it is critical to affordability and usage for poor girls and women. Surveys revealed that price of Re 1 and below will be affordable,” said Reema Nanavati, director of rural and economic development at Sewa.
Nanavati said the pads will be first sold through the Sewa network, which consists of 10 million members.
Coordinator of rural development Veena Sharma said a nine-district survey carried out in Gujarat had revealed that 90% women and girls use cloth during periods due to unaffordable sanitary pads.
About 56% girls miss school during their menstrual cycle because they use cloth and fear messing up.
Also 88% women miss work due to lack of proper hygiene facilities at work place. Women workers, especially those working in vegetable and flower farms, are also paid only 50% wages when they are having their periods.