Asmita Yojana and quizzing on Menstrual Hygiene

Asmita Yojana and quizzing on Menstrual Hygiene.....

28th May is International Menstrual Hygeine Day and I was in a web conference with my team planning a facebook live session to spread the message of safe periods.
The rural development department of the Government of Maharashtra had launched the Asmita Yojana in 2018 as a one stop approach to Menstrual Management.
The scheme not only centred around spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene and management but emphasized on making good quality sanitary napkins affordable, available and accessible in the villages through the robust network of self help groups under MSRLM Umed . After initial setbacks in the tri-fold Asmita sanitray napkins things have begun to settle with the launch of the new Asmita Plus sanitary napkins in 2019.
As of date only 36 percent of women in India use sanitary napkins and most of them are urban. There is a need to make rural women more aware of the importance of using good quality sanitary napkins. We therefore decided to have Facebook live talk where menstrual hygeine and management could be explained to rural women.
Asmita Yojana has been in operation for almost two years and it was important to gauge the awareness of the scheme and of menstrual management among women. By coming up with a unique idea of conducting an online quiz on Asmita Yojana and Menstrual management we added an element of fun and curiosity.

The quiz competition was for our community cadre of almost 60,000 Community Resource Persons, CRPs. All plans were put into action, the questions framed, the groups informed and the link created along with ten questions.
The link was to remain open for 30 minutes from 11 to 11.30 a.m on Saturday, the 23rd May 2020. No sooner were the lines opened, than the responses started pouring in. 
We all have heard of science quiz, G.K.Quiz and the like but it was probably the first time an open online quiz on Menstrual mangement was held. The ladies were excited and their responded enthusiastically. When the time ended more than 29000 CRPs had participated.
We were also flooded with pictures and selfies of women participating in the quiz Some had responded from their fields, some from their homes or place of work. One CRP balanced the art of making papads while responding to the quiz.
Many sent video messages after the quiz ended. The testimonial of Ms.Priyadarshini Sudhakar Kamble of Osmanabad moistened my eyes as she confessed that after marriage this was probably the first time she was attempting something like this. She felt she was back at school and spent two days in learning about the scheme though she knew most things. Her satisfaction on getting this opportunity was palpable. She represented the hope and energy of our sixty thousand strong force of Sakhis or CRPs.
Sharmila Sunil Jogi and Vaishali Samadhaan Janjaal from Jalgaon, Navshaa Daalim Sheikh from Osmanabad found the quiz useful and also emphasized on the importance of Asmita Yojana for their well-being and as a means of livelihood.
Menstruation has always been a hush-hush affair and open discussion on it taboo. Religion, rituals and patriarchal societies attach a stigma to it so much so that girls and women experience a sense of shame to even speak about it. Added to it are the woes of non-availability of good quality sanitary napkins, water and sanitation facilities. In such an environment it is difficult to discuss such an important issue with alacrity.
The celebration of International menstrual hygeine day on 28th May every year broke the taboos by highlighting the need of healthy and hygienic menstrual management.
In this day and age too rural girls are largely unaware about menstrual cycle and with its onset of puberty choose to drop out of school or remain absent on those five days due to feelings of hesitation, shame and poor sanitation facilities. A pack of eight Asmita napkins made available at Rs.Five to girls of Zilla Parishad schools between the age of 11 and 19 has certainly eased the situation.
Asmita Yojana has also enabled over 30000 SHGs to register as traders for Asmita sanitary napkins. Till date they have sold more than one crore packets. SHGs have also been made aware of proper disposal to prevent environmental hazards.
With the increase in cases of ovarian and cervical cancer and other uterine diseases it is important that rural women are made aware of menstrual hygiene and mangement along with easy access to good quality sanitary napkins.
28th May , the international Menstrual Hygeine Day enables us to break the silence on this topic. The objective of MHD is to address the challenges faced by women and girls during menstruation, advocate policy changes and provide solutions. UNICEF also takes interest in MHM as it is a part of WASH program. This is also an opportunity for government organizations to raise awareness and increase accountability.
MSRLM Umed's unique quiz for its community resource persons was an innovative step in this direction.

 Nothing stops men from displaying their manliness and probably periods would have been a matter of great pride had men been getting them. It is strange that almost forty percent of the world's population experiences menstraution yet it is looked down with a sense of shame. Several issues need to be addressed till women accept their menstrual cycle as something natural and normal like peeing and overcome the feeling of shame. Till then we have to keep working to create a period positive approach....

P.S. Catch me live on MSRLM's Facebook page talking about Asmita Yojana, Menstrual management and Hygiene in English at 3 p.m and in Marathi at 4 p.m. The winners of the quiz competition will also be declared thereafter.