Manushi Chillar aims to spread AIDS awareness among women in India

Former Miss World, Manushi Chillar, who founded non-profit organisation Project Shakti with the aim of improving the menstrual hygiene in India, has announced the expansion of her awareness programme on the occasion of World AIDS Day.

The pageant queen who holds a strong voice against societal issues constantly works with women in over 20 villages of India to spread the message of sanitation.

Her organisation currently provides free sanitary pads among women. It also works towards empowering the women in over 20 villages of India by making them earn a living and become self-reliant.

The world is observing World AIDS Day today, she is focusing to spread AIDS awareness through community outreach.

The beauty who will soon be debuting in 'Prithviraj' opposite Akshay Kumar talked about her project which focuses on educating women on AIDS awareness.

"AIDS awareness among women will be one of the key initiatives of Project Shakti because I do feel women of our country are at risk due to lack of awareness programmes," she said.

"We work with hundreds of women across India and we are looking to educate them about AIDS awareness so that they can spread this important message in their respective communities. It is absolutely essential for our country to fight AIDS and I'm looking forward to doing my bit for the cause," added the 22-year-old star.

She further elaborated about the details of her project and said, "I started it 3 years ago aimed at bringing about social change. We are operating in India across 12 states (and expanding in the African continent) where we have these machines which produce sanitary pads from natural fiber."

"We employ women from our society and empower them by providing employment. I feel like you can help people and you can provide for them but giving them skills and giving them the means to actually fend for themselves is what Project Shakti is all about," concluded the star.