States asked to submit action plans for the implementation of the national menstrual hygiene policy

The Union Health Ministry’s letter to all states comes after the Supreme Court on November 12 said that effective implementation of the policy would require comprehensive action plans tailored to the specific needs and contexts of each state and UT.

The Center had last month informed the Supreme Court about the ‘Menstrual Hygiene Policy for School-going Girls’, which was approved by the Union Health Ministry on November 2.

The policy aims to integrate menstrual hygiene into the government’s school system to support knowledge, attitude and behavior change among female students, overcoming the barriers of low awareness that often restrict their freedom, mobility and participation in daily activities.

It advocates for the streamlining of mechanisms to ensure the continuous and timely availability of menstrual hygiene products in schools.

For government and government-aided schools, the policy says that states/UTs should assess and estimate the actual requirement of menstrual hygiene products to enable efficient use of resources.

To enable coverage, assessment through appropriate levels of survey mechanisms can be undertaken by states or UTs followed by gap filling so that girls in government and government aided schools have regular access to menstrual hygiene products.

In addition, the policy aims to dispel harmful social norms, promote safe menstrual hygiene practices and enable environmentally friendly management of menstrual waste.

The Health Ministry has asked states to develop and submit a detailed state and UT action plan incorporating all aspects of the policy, ensuring coverage of government and government-aided schools.

They were asked to ensure inter-departmental coordination with relevant stakeholders to address challenges in infrastructure, supply chain and awareness, in addition to prioritizing outreach and awareness activities to promote safe menstrual hygiene practices and drive behavioral change among teenagers, parents and educators.

They were also asked to include specific deadlines, monitoring mechanisms and key performance indicators in the action plans.

The policy also aims to promote clean and gender-segregated sanitary facilities as per standards in all government and government-aided schools and include menstrual hygiene education in the school curriculum to increase awareness and reduce stigma related to menstruation in all schools.

The objective is also to promote social and behavioral change by disseminating scientific information about menstrual hygiene practices among all stakeholders, including teachers, parents and the community, to create a menstruation-friendly environment for all school girls. PTI