HLL to Implement ‘She-Pad’ Project in Kerala Schools by Mid-August

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
In an initiative to promote healthy menstruation practices in schools, HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL) has teamed up with the Kerala government for launching ‘She-Pad’ in state-owned schools by mid-August – a first of its kind project in the country.
The project aims at providing free sanitary napkins and awareness booklets to girls from 6th to 12th standard in all government and aided schools in Kerala.
“More than one lakh students and teachers will benefit from the ‘She Pad’ project,” said HLL C&MD RP Khandelwal. “Due to some technical difficulties, we were not able to implement this project soon after its launch two months ago. We have completed all formalities now and the project is ready for implementation,” he pointed out.
An awareness camp for boys in creating a healthy mindset on menstruation will also be conducted in the schools as part of this ‘She Pad’ project.
As many as 106 local self government bodies, which provide funding for this project, have handed out Rs 1.5 crore to The Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation Ltd. A trial project, which drew positive response from the students and teachers, was implemented in 110 and 623 government schools in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, respectively.
The sanitary napkins to be distributed will conform to the standards set by Kerala Medical Service Corporation and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). HLL has been already providing sanitary napkins to nearly 4,000 institutions, including schools and other women- oriented workplaces, across India through their ‘Vendigo’ machine. The machine dispenses “Happy Days” sanitary napkins, manufactured by HLL at its Kanagala factory in Belgaum. Additionally, the napkin incinerators being installed along with the machine will enable safe and environment-friendly disposal of used napkins.
HLL’s factory at Kanagala produces around 400 million sanitary napkins per month.