The first-ever sanitary pads manufacturing unit under official patronage in Jammu Kashmir Union Territory was today inaugurated at Batote in Ramban district under the Government of India's pilot project ‘My Pad, My Right' is indeed a step towards breaking the taboos in our orthodox society.
The initiative sponsored by NABARD under the nationwide campaign ‘My Pad, My Right', a Self Help Group (SHG), Mansarovar will start manufacturing these sanitary pads and to spread mass awareness among women about menstrual hygiene and make easy availability of these sanitary pads to protect them from cervical cancer and other gynaecological disorders.
Ramban district became the only district in J&K UT selected by the GOI among the 30 districts of the country under the pilot project – ‘My Pad, My Right'.
We will be failing in our duty if we do not mention here, for our readers, about Irfana Zargar, the first Kashmiri Pad-woman who voluntarily, in August last year, started distributing free of cost sanitary kits to women and young girls in Srinagar and nearby villages in Kashmir valley .
Under an initiative called ”Eva Safety Kit”, Irfana Zargar decided to do something for women and had, in a unique way, distributed menstrual kits in around 15 washrooms around Srinagar which are available at free of cost.
This may be a beginning for the girls and women living in rural and remote areas of the district Ramban and other periphery areas who would be able to procure affordable sanitary pads, which are being manufactured by this self-help group at Batote in Ramban district but the campaign can well be taken to other districts and areas of the J&K by numerous NGO's and social organisations working in our erstwhile state. The facilities and machinery needed are not that costly and woman manpower is easily available in our inner towns and rural areas. This would prove a great service by providing menstrual hygiene to women and girls who cannot afford expensive napkins.
The activism is also widening its domain, taking into its ambit menstruation-related concerns. “It should be considered a natural biological process, with no taboos attached to it. At the same time, we need to promote biodegradable disposable sanitary products,”
In our society, despite many discomforts attributed to this natural process that often faced by all the women like cramps, a mood swing, sub-consciousness and far more distressing than just the odd sleeping positions, yet no woman must talk about it, not mention the word — menstruation.
How to dilute this natural process that is deeply rooted in our subconsciousness like a taboo? A Bill was also reportedly tabled in the Parliament suggesting a two-day period leave. One doesn't know if it will become a reality, or if at all it should. Or should it be preceded by creating awareness so nobody questions its relevance?
Thus, let such initiatives that Irfana Zargar started in Kashmir valley particularly during the Covid pandemic and now launched by ‘Mansarovar,' a self-help group be a part of the larger narrative of menstrual activism!
