After bicycles and uniforms, around 40 lakh schoolgirls in Bihar will be soon provided free sanitary napkins by the Nitish Kumar government as part of its effort to boost girls' education and stem the dropout rate in higher classes.

Girls above the age of 12, studying in secondary and higher secondary schools, will benefit from the Bihar government's scheme. To be introduced from April this year, the scheme will annually cost about Rs 32 crore to the state exchequer. Nitish made this announcement at the concluding ceremony of Tarang, a sports championship, in Patna on Thursday.

Underscoring the need for linking health and hygiene with education, Nitish also directed officials of the education department to involve self-help groups in execution of the scheme. The officials will now engage with these SHGs to explore ways for procuring sanitary napkins at affordable prices on a large scale.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

In 2006, Nitish had distributed free bicycles to girls studying in standard IX for encouraging them to continue their studies after middle schools. He recalled that at the launch of the project, the number of girls studying in high schools was a mere 1.70 lakh and it has now risen to more than seven lakh.

Poverty is the main reason for the dropout of girl students, he said. "We started providing bicycles and uniforms to the students after we realised that the people were not sending their daughters to schools because of poverty," he said.

Nitish also sought to lay emphasis on woman empowerment through martial arts training to schoolgirls. In view of the rising incidents of crime against women, he called for organising such training sessions for under-17 schoolgirls in all districts.

Until now, martial arts training was imparted only to under-14 girls in Bihar. "Girls will not have to depend on anybody for their protection. For, they can protect themselves and teach their tormentors a lesson," he said.