With 2018 documentary short film- Period. End of Sentence we got a glimpse into how a group of local women in Hapur brought a low-cost pad-making machine to their village to make biodegradable sanitary pads which they sold at affordable prices.

Taking the narrative to the next level, a similar story has come out from the city of Ludhiana, where a group of women is running a manufacturing unit that aims at supplying free of cost napkins to government schools, women’s jails, slums, etc.

Set up in a residential building in Krishna Nagar, the women produce packs of six sanitary napkins each with a note on the pack that reads, ‘Gifts For Change-Girls in Freedom Trail’.

The unit with its three workers produces around 20,000 napkins per month which are eco-friendly and biodegradable and are made using wood pulp, cotton, and organic fibre.

“We are currently supplying napkins to girls in government schools of Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and even some schools in Palampur of Himachal Pradesh through Rotary Club workers. Also, we distribute in slums and women’s jail,” says Param Saini, who is supervising the entire project.

“Women tell us that how these napkins are changing their lives as they never used one before. They used cloth which use to itch and lead to infections. We are taking gynecologists to schools to educate girls on menstrual hygiene,” she adds.

While the machinery used to produce the napkins was brought by the unit from Arunachalam Muruganantham (on whom the film PadMan was made) for Rs 3.40 lakh from Coimbatore, the building that houses the unit belongs to Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Bhagat Singh, who provided them the space for free.

The unit that started its operations in November last year received help from Ludhiana unit of Rotary Club to purchase the machinery. “Luckily we do not have to pay rent and power bill. We pay the salaries of the three workers through the donations. But since the donations are not fixed, sometimes we have to pay from our pockets even for the raw materials,” shared Saini.

The unit has 2 women (Rajinder Kaur and Shikha) and a man (Madan Pal Verma) as workers. Madan, who previously worked as a security guard, says he never felt awkward working with women colleagues.

“When I told my family that I have joined a sanitary napkins manufacturing unit, they never objected. There is nothing awkward being the only male worker here. In fact, it is very important to keep women away from health problems. I am proud that my work is helping in doing so. I also took pads for my wife as she expressed her wish to give feedback on my work. She liked them and said the quality was good. My daughter is very small but when she grows up I will educate her too about this,” shared Verma.

Due to no access to sanitary napkins in her younger days, Rajinder Kaur shared the problems she faced and the importance of using napkins. “Girls should know how important it is to use sanitary napkins for health. I faced a lot of problems personally. Kapda use kardey si oh vi chupa chupa ke (I used to get cloth that too in hiding). We never got access to napkins and were always at risk of infections. Now even my 28-year old son appreciates that I work here and comes to help me with work whenever he is free.”

H/T: The Indian Express