Swachh Garima Vidyalaya to cover over 7K secondary schools

Lucknow: Celebrating the World Menstrual Hygiene Day, UP govt has decided to expand the Swachh Garima Vidyalaya initiative across 7,004 govt and aided schools in all 75 districts of the state.

Launched in Aug 2022 as a pilot in one government girls’ inter college per district, the initiative — implemented in collaboration with Unicef — aimed to create model schools equipped with functional girls’ toilets, sanitary pad vending machines, disposal units, and trained nodal teachers to sensitively address menstrual hygiene and health.

In almost four years, the model demonstrated visible change, thereby compelling govt to scale it to all schools. In April 2026, the secondary education department and Unicef jointly conducted state-level trainings preparing 150 teachers as master trainers. Officials said the programme will fully be implemented by July.

Additional state project director, Samagra Shiksha, VK Pandey said: “It is govt’s commitment to keep all girls in school to ensure they continue to learn and play and achieve their full potential. And for this, menstrual health plays a vital role.”

“It’s good to see state govt has reinvigorated its efforts to ensure that menstrual hygiene and health services reach schools. We are proud to support govt,” said Unicef chief of UP, Zakari Adam.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Bakrid wishes, messages and eid 2026