Tamil Nadu Government will be providing free sanitary napkins to the girls in Government schools and women inpatients at government medical institutions in urban areas under the new menstrual hygiene programme.
The cost of the scheme is estimated to be Rs 44 crores. The Government has been implementing this scheme in rural areas for years now.
According to the official order, the Government has santioned the proposal and has allotted the budget for the same as well. Officials said the State would procure sanitary napkins for girls in the 10-19 age group in urban areas at a cost of Rs 34.74 crore and for inpatients in the 15-49 age group at a cost of Rs 9.4 crore.
The nurses will be taking care of distributing the napkins to the women, along with Anganwadi workers. Officials said the health nurses will also distribute the kits to postnatal mothers during home visits.
Speaking to Indian Express, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “This scheme is already under implementation in the rural areas and is now extended to the needy in the urban areas. This would ensure in providing generic hygiene to the people in urban areas as well,” he told Express.
The scheme is set to cover close to 1,000 health centres in the metro cities and several schools.
