Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “menstrual hygiene is every girl’s right. The scope of the scheme is not limited to the distribution of sanitary napkins. She Pad scheme aims to raise awareness about the need for menstrual hygiene.” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “menstrual hygiene is every girl’s right. The scope of the scheme is not limited to the distribution of sanitary napkins. She Pad scheme aims to raise awareness about the need for menstrual hygiene.”

Kerala government on Wednesday launched “She Pad,’’ a scheme to distribute free sanitary napkins to girl students from classes VI to XII in government and aided private schools affiliated to the state school board. This is the first time that a state government is distributing sanitary napkins to school students.

Health Minister K K Shailaja inaugurated the scheme at a higher secondary school in the district. In this academic year, the scheme will be implemented in 300 schools in 114 panchayats by the Kerala Women Development Corporation with the support of local self-governing bodies. The schools under the project will also get cupboards to store napkins and incinerator to dispose of used pads.

Depending upon the number of girls from classes VI to XII in various schools under its jurisdiction, a local governing body will give funds to the Kerala Women Development Corporation, which will distribute quality napkins in the schools.

The project will be extended to all government and aided schools in Kerala in the next academic year.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his Facebook post, “menstrual hygiene is every girl’s right. The scope of the scheme is not limited to the distribution of sanitary napkins. She Pad scheme aims to raise awareness about the need for menstrual hygiene. It also strives to break the taboo around the subject by helping girls to break free from the beliefs of impurity attached to it. Government is hoping that initiatives like these will help our girls lead a life of confidence.’’

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