Remote Mekala Chinnampally in Tamil Nadu has taken a significant step towards woman empowerment. The Mekala Chinnampally Girls’ High School has become the first school in the country to have a sanitary napkin vending machine with an incinerator. And a napkin costs just two rupees.

Girl students in the village school had no access to sanitary napkins and wore double inner wear or used cloth that invariably stained their uniforms. So they just stayed away from school during those ‘embarrassing’ days. Not anymore, if the Krishnagiri district administration sustains the campaign. “This is just a beginning. We hope to install a vending machine in every government and aided school (about 1,300) in Krishnagiri district,” said Collector Santosh Babu. While the vending machine has been placed inside the toilet, a low-cost incinerator has also been installed for the soiled napkins.

“The incinerator is the biggest challenge,” said Santosh Babu. The district authorities hope to get private sponsors for installing a vending machine in every government school and incinerators as well.

It cost the administration Rs 8,000 for a vending machine. “We hope to negotiate a better deal once we give the sponsors the volume,” said the Collector, adding that private schools too, had evinced interest.

The low cost incinerator cost a mere Rs 1,500. The sanitary napkins would be made at a low cost by the self help groups. “The response of the students has been positive,” he said. “Several remote village schools where girls haven’t even seen a sanitary napkin will now have a vending machine and most importantly, don’t have to bunk class,” said Ganesh Murthy, UNICEF consultant. About 570 teachers in the district have been trained to introduce children to sanitary napkins. “The UNICEF and the state government have broken the stigma surrounding female hygiene.

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