Indore: Indian Institute of Management Indore is going to give sanitary pads free of cost to all women working at the institute.
“They are going to receive sanitary pads free of cost, as long as they are working for the institute,” IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai announced in his Republic Day speech.
This announcement adds to the institute’s initiatives towards tackling this societal taboo.
Mentioning the institute’s annual cultural and management fest IRIS’ national record of distributing more than 18000 sanitary pads, Rai talked about breaking the taboo around menstrual hygiene.
The IIM Indore director believes that it is better to empower a woman than a man.
“When one empowers a man, only he is empowered; but when one empowers a woman, her entire family is empowered,” he said.
Stressing on women empowerment, he added, “Everyone must be treated with dignity. However, there has been a historical mistake as far as treating certain section of the society is considered. It is our duty to correct this historic wrongdoing.”
Rai also shared his views on CARE (Character, Accountability, Responsibility and Excellence). He explained, “Character is what you do when nobody is watching and continue doing the right thing.”
He emphasised that the Institute is “accountable” towards its participants, to make sure they get world class academic standards and the right values; accountable towards its employees by ensuring right care to them; and accountable to the world—making sure that the degrees which IIM Indore students hold reflect integrity.‘And when these three virtues come together, it leads to ‘excellence’,” he said.
Citing the Swarn Singh Committee’s recommendation and the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, Rai discussed the fundamental duties of citizens—like respecting the national symbols, promoting equality and brotherhood; and doing away with practices which go against women’s honour.
