In what will come as a blessing to women during this lockdown, the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and DYFI volunteers are home delivering sanitary napkins across West Bengal 24x7 — all you need to do is call them.
Rituparna Mitra, the Councilor of Ward number 33 of the Kamarhati Municipality in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas has been a forerunner in this initiative. "For those who can afford to pay for it (sanitary napkins) but do not want to step out, we are working as a medium of delivery for them. We pick up the pads from the medical store, take it to the person and they reimburse the bill," said Rituparna and added. "But for people from the lower income strata who do not have cash in hand at this point, we have already stocked up some sanitary pads and are giving it to them for free," she added.
The initiative took shape because the women in the organisation felt that essentials do not just mean rice, pulses and medicines but sanitary pads as well and it would be difficult for women to get pads at this time of crisis. But given the taboo and stigma attached to menstruation in India, it does not seem like women would just call and ask for pads, right?
Wrong, said Nabanita Chakrabarty, a member of SFI from Hoogly District associated with the project. "What came as a pleasant surprise was a call from a middle aged woman who called to ask for pads for her daughter-in-law. We have got hundreds of calls since morning," said Nabanita on Sunday, after they kickstarted the initiative. The volunteers are taking proper precautions in delivering the pads — they use gloves, masks and sanitisers and are using two-wheelers for faster commute.
