The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Friday that no vending machines for sanitary napkins have been installed across any location, school or institution under a scheme to ensure access to quality and affordable sanitary napkins through a network of women self-help groups (SHGs).
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R. Vimala (54) filed an affidavit on behalf of the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission, Rural Development department, to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by law student Nikita Gore and law research associate Vaishnavi Gholave. The PIL has sought implementation of “the Menstrual Hygiene Management National Guidelines, 2015”, to recognise sanitary napkins as an essential commodity, and to add it to the schedule of the Essential Commodity Act.
The 16-page affidavit said, “The Rural Development department initiated the implementation of ASMITA Yojana in Maharashtra to ensure that women and young adolescent girls in rural areas have access to quality and affordable sanitary napkins through a network of women SHGs.”
“The State had announced that under the ASMITA scheme, a pack of eight sanitary napkins is made available to girl students (11-19 years) of all zilla parishad (ZP) schools at a subsidised cost of ₹5. The subsidy of ₹15.20 is paid by the department. Besides, other girls and women from rural areas are getting the benefits of the scheme by being able to purchase sanitary napkins at ₹24 per pack,” the affidavit said.
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It said no vending machines have been installed across any location, school or institution under ASMITA Yojana. “Any girl student of a ZP school having ASMITA card (with QR code) can approach her nearest woman SHG and purchase subsidised ASMITA Plus sanitary napkins. As many as 29,875 women SHGs are registered under the scheme across 34 districts, who have so far sold 19,78,140 packets of sanitary napkins (1.6 crore pads) and the efforts are still on,” the affidavit added.