Amaravati: Adolescent girl students to get free sanitary napkins

Amaravati: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday launched the Swechha programme which aims at the health and hygiene of adolescent girls studying in government schools and colleges by providing quality sanitary napkins at free of cost.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, "One should not shy away from talking about menstruation. We need to create more awareness among female students and educate them on safe practices."

Under the initiative, the state government will provide quality branded sanitary napkins to female students at government educational institutions, free of cost.

Ten sanitary napkins will be given every month to about 10 lakh adolescent girls studying from 7-12 grades in all government schools and intermediate colleges across the state at a financial outlay of Rs 32 crore. A total of 120 napkins per year is allotted to every female student.

Even during summer vacations, the students will be supplied with their quota before they leave school.

"We are a government that strongly believes that the power to change history lies with the women in our state, let us help them move forward," he said.

The branded free sanitary products being supplied are a result of the state government entering MoUs with corporate conglomerates like P&G and Niine Pvt Ltd.

Additionally through the MOUs signed, sanitary napkins will be sold at YSR Cheyutha retail stores at lowered prices to around 1 crore women residing in both rural and urban areas.

Each school will have a female educator appointed as a nodal officer to help female students with sanitary napkins supply, safe methods of disposal, and any assistance the students may require.

Further for a safer and environment-friendly way of disposal, the state government has set up 6,417 incinerators across the state through the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) initiative.

Later, during the event, Jagan Mohan Reddy released a poster on Swechha programme.