Jayashree Foundation, an NGO from Navi Mumbai has planned to celebrate the Navratri by launching Project 'Balika’ to donate sanitary pads to women and spread awareness on menstrual hygiene.
The foundation has appealed to citizens to come forward for the noble cause and donate sanitary pads. The sanitary pads collected will be given to women from low-income backgrounds.
The foundation will also conduct an awareness programme in slum and tribal areas and promote usage of sanitary napkins in those areas. Initially, the foundation had only planned to donate pads, however, later decided upon awareness campaign since there is taboo around usage of pads in some communities still.
"Menstrual hygiene is a taboo topic among women in slums or tribal communities and many still use old ways like using cloth; thus, our organisation wants to reach out and conduct awareness sessions for the community and distribute sanitary napkins," said a senior member of the foundation.
Jayashree Foundation has also tied up with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to spread awareness and distribute sanitary napkins in NMMC schools. This will be a joint project between the two to inform young women about menstrual health and hygiene.
