Maha govt launches program for wider use of sanitary napkins

The Maharashtra government today launched a scheme, with a mobile app, to make sanitary napkins available at affordable rates.
The scheme also allows people to sponsor the cost of sanitary napkins for rural girls.
The napkins will be distributed through women self-help groups across the state, primarily in rural areas, said rural development minister Pankaja Munde.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the scheme and the mobile app. Fadnavis himself decided to bear the cost of sanitary napkins for 50 girls for the next 12 months, Munde said.
She will bear the cost of napkins for 151 girls for the next 12 months, Munde added.

The scheme will be called 'Asmita Fund'.
"Only 17 per cent of women use sanitary napkins in rural areas of Maharashtra. Non-use of sanitary napkins invites infections and compromises personal hygiene. The Asmita Fund scheme will provide napkins at affordable prices and increase their use," the minister said.