Girls’ health, hygiene high on government agenda: CM
2 min readPatna: In a bid to ensure menstrual hygieneamong girls in Bihar, CM Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced the state government would spend Rs 30-32 crore annually to provide free sanitary napkins every month to girl students at all secondary and higher secondary government schools.
Speaking at the valedictory function of five-day Bihar sub-junior sports meet ‘Tarang’ 2014, the CM said the move would also improve girl students’ attendance in schools. “The napkins would be manufactured by self-help groups and dustbins would also be provided to every school for their proper disposal,” Nitish said, adding that health, hygiene and cleanliness were high on the state government’s agenda.
The CM, through videoconferencing, also launched a slew of education department’s schemes on the occasion. These included commencement of building construction work of 550 intermediate schools, construction of 1,196 primary school buildings and inauguration of ‘hunar’ centres where over 86,000 girls would get skill development training. A coffee-table book ‘Odyssey’, brought by The Times of India for Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC), was also released on the occasion.
The CM said the unspent amount of various schemes of the education department would be spent on furniture requirements of the primary and middle schools. Pitching for peace and communal harmony for the development of Bihar, the CM also listed several government schemes. “Girls are almost equal in numbers with boys in primary and middle schools. Close to 1,750 +2 schools, higher than the earlier target of 1,000, would be constructed at the gram panchayat level this year. The scholarship money has also been increased three times and the government is also focusing on digital literacy,” he said.
Araria district was declared the overall champions of Tarang 2014. Winners of different events were also awarded at the event. State education minister P K Shahi said sports improves concentration and health of students.
With a promise for a bigger and better edition of Tarang next year, BEPC director Rahul Singh said, “The sports meet provides the students a big platform to display their talent.”
A spectacular cultural programme, befitting the occasion, was also presented by students of different districts. Many programmes were performed by differently abled students.
Food and consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak, energy minister Bijendra Yadav, industries minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha, water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, chief secretary Ashok Kumar Sinha, principal secretary to CM Anjani Kumar Singh and education department’s principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha, among others, were also present on the occasion.
Courtesy: TNN
