Noopur Bhandiwad, Pune
The Supreme Court will hear a plea on Monday seeking directions to states and the Center to provide free sanitary pads for girls in grades 6-12. The plea is also aiming to ensure separate toilet facilities for females in all government-aided and residential schools.
Social worker Jaya Thakur, who filed the plea, will be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Monoj Mishra.
Earlier, the apex court had directed the center to develop a standard operating procedure and a national model that all states and union territories should adopt for better management of menstrual hygiene among girls in school.
The top court had said on April 10 that the issue was of “immense importance” and ordered the Center to engage with all stakeholders for the implementation of a uniform national policy on the management of menstrual hygiene in schools, including government and aided schools.
The court said, “Presently, we hold the view that it would be appropriate if the Union Government worked with all the State governments and Union Territories to implement a uniform national policy that consists of sufficient leeway for States and Union Territories to make adjustments, based on the existing conditions in their union territories.”
The plea, which was filed through advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, mentions the serious difficulties that adolescent females, who hail from poor backgrounds, undergo between the ages of 11 and 18 in being educated about menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
“The deprived economic status and illiteracy lead to the adoption of unhygienic and unhealthy practices, which seriously affect the health, increase obstinacy, and become a reason for the girls to drop out of school.”
It had appointed the secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) as the nodal officer to liaise with all the States and UTs to collect relevant data for formulating a national policy. The Supreme Court noted that the MOHFW, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Jal Shakti already run schemes to address issues related to menstrual hygiene.