Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Swechha programme, which aims to improve Health and hygiene of adolescent girls studying in government schools and colleges by providing quality sanitary napkins free of cost.
Speaking on the occasion, Jagan said many reports have revealed that almost 23 per cent of young girls in the country stay away from schools and colleges during menstruation. In order to change this, the is taking measures right from improving toilets in all government institutions under Nadu-Nedu initiative to launching Swechha programme.
He said under the Swechha initiative, awareness on menstruation will be spread among the students studying in classes 7 to 12 once a month by Women teachers and women cops. Apart from this, awareness on Disha App and Disha Act will also be created by women Police, and joint collector (Aasara) will be monitoring the orientation programmes. A woman teacher will be appointed as a nodal officer. The state government will provide quality sanitary napkins to over 10 lakh students studying in classes 7 to 12, at a cost of Rs 32 crore. Each girl student will receive 120 napkins every year. The students will also be taught on proper disposal of sanitary pads in places where separate dustbins and 6,417 incinerators have been set up under clean AP programme.