Bhubaneswar: In a round table held here Wednesday to discuss and promote menstrual hygiene among the youth, Anju Bist, the ‘pad woman’ of India, emphasised the need to introduce sustainability in the menstrual hygiene culture of Odisha.
At the conference, Bist, who is the managing director of Saukhyam Reusable Pads, addressed the environmental impact of disposable sanitary pads and advocated for the use of reusable pads made from organic materials like banana fiber.
In recent months, to spread awareness and promote sustainable menstrual hygiene practices, Saukhyam, an initiative of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, in collaboration with NSS Unit of the state Higher Education department conducted workshops in several colleges across Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
“We have received very good feedback for these workshops. This year we hope to expand the workshops to many more colleges outside the cities,” said NSS State Coordinator Ramesh Chandra Behera.
Representatives from Odisha Menstrual Health and Hygiene Alliance, Oil India and Indian Railways also spoke at the event, outlining their plans for taking forward this sustainability initiative.
Notably, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, known as Amma, started Saukhyam to ensure that menstruating women have a safe product to manage menses that does not pollute the environment.
Behera informed that the Saukhyam team will work with stakeholders to begin a satellite production center in Odisha this year.
“Reusable menstrual pads are an idea whose time has come. For communities, they are the best way to make menstrual hygiene solutions accessible and affordable,” said Praveen Bist, CIO of Amrita Hospitals.
At the round table, Sneha Mishra on behalf of Odisha Menstrual Health and Hygiene Alliance, handed over a Saukhyam pad set to national athlete Subhasmita Rath.
Arindam Ganguly, OP
