DWSS sensitized 450 participants on Menstrual Hygiene Management on International Menstrual Hygiene Day

S.A.S. Nagar : Under Mission Har Ghar Paani, Har Ghar Safai, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation on the occasion of Menstrual Hygiene Day organized an online awareness workshop on Menstrual Hygiene Management on Friday from Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration.The workshop imparted training to the Panchayati Raj Institutions including female Sarpanchs, Panchs,Anganwadi workers and district sanitation teamsworking in the villages about safe menstrual hygiene management practices. The online training workshop was attended by the approximately 450 participants across the State.Speaking at the event Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Smt. Parneet Shergill IAS welcomed the participants and informed them to break the taboos relating to the Menstrual Hygiene. She insisted thatgirlsmust be provided with accurate information and improved sanitation facilities in schools, to manage their hygiene, particularly during their menstrual period. Lack of information about menstruation hygiene put young girls in shock, stress and discomfort.Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal, Additional Professor, Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health PGIMER, Chandigarh and Dr. Pooja Parihar (MPH) Scholar were the invited as guest speakers in the workshop. Dr. Pooja Parihar emphasized on Hygiene and sanitation are important attributes to attain a healthy life and Menstrual Hygiene includes Menstruation, Menstrual Cycle, Menstrual Disorders and Menstrual Hygiene management.Dr Khaiwalshared thatit is our collective responsibility to ensure that every girl is equipped with accurate information on menstruation as a normal biological process. Educating girls on menstruation management builds their self-esteem, and confidence.She explained participants on maintaining safe hygiene practices during the menstruation. She also cleared the misconceptions and myths about the menstrual hygiene.Ms. Sakshi Bhatia, Associate working with Roundglass Foundation shared her experiences about working with females. She said that she had worked with more than 7000 young girls from rural schools in the villages of Punjab, helping them deal with menstrual hygiene and spread awareness in rural areas.
She also shared one of her success story of Village Aloona Tola of block Khanna district Ludhiana. She explained that during the survey she found that a lot of young girls were not following safe practices for menstrual hygiene. So, she decided to motivate the females to form a self-help group and establish a sanitary pad manufacturing unit in the village. Initially she faced challenges but now the unit is working very well and women are benefitting from it. The Self-Help Group is now selling their product to the markets, schools and other market channels. The sanitary pads prepared by the SHG is very economical costing 30 Rs per packet. The initiative empowered the rural women and each member of them gained a profit of Rs. 10,000. Sh. Sarbjit Singh, Sub Divisional Engineer (Sanitation) informed about Sanitation initiatives being taken by Department of Water Supply and Sanitation in Rural Schools and Anganwadis. The workshop ended with a question-and-answer session with all the participants.