Padman reaches Darbhanga doors

Darbhanga: The Rotary Club, Darbhanga, has started a project of making biodegradable eco-friendly low-cost sanitary pads here towards women’s empowerment and to ensure menstrual hygiene of economically weaker women.

The company owned by Arunanchalam Muruganantham – on whom the Bollywood film Padman was based – has supplied the machines to the club. A team of seven women, led by Amrita Rani, will look after the unit. Amrita has completed her masters in business administration from Lalit Narayan Mishra University, Darbhanga.

The trainer from Muruganantham’s company, Kannan, said: “The sanitary pads could be manufactured and made available at a very low cost in the market.” He added that unlike other pads available in the market, these sanitary pads would be made of wood pulp, which is eco-friendly and biodegradable.

Kannan also said that this was the fifth pad-making machine installed in the state. Previously, the machines had been installed in Patna, Bhagalpur, Motihari and Madhubani.

The president of Rotary Club Darbhanga, Dr Gouri Shankar Jha, said very few women in the rural areas of Darbhanga have access to clean sanitary pads. “Poor menstrual hygiene increases the risk of reproductive tract and urinary tract infections and through this signature project, it’s our endeavor to make pads available to the last woman in the district at a very low cost.”

Jha added that each pad will be priced at Rs 3 and women team members had been trained and the pad will hit the market in urban as well as rural areas shortly.

Courtesy: The Telegraph