Yes, periods are occasionally inconvenient. But what is more inconvenient is disposing soiled sanitary napkins.
Keeping this in mind, Udaan, the women's wing of NGO Junior Chamber International (JCI), has installed an incinerator at Guardian Girls Hostel in Lalpur, Ranchi, in which they can burn their used sanitary napkins.
Udaan's president Archana Murarka said the incinerator was easy to use and would benefit the girls of the private hostel a lot.
"Women always face the problem of discarding sanitary napkins. So, we came up with the idea of installing an incinerator. Our main purpose is to maintain hygiene in and around our surroundings be it school, hospitals or girls' hostels," she said.
The incinerator, which has been installed on Wednesday, costs around Rs 15,000 and can be filled with up to 20 used sanitary napkins. The incinerator prevents any foul odour or pollution as the only residue is ash.
Last month, Udaan had installed an incinerator at Ranchi Sewa Sadan Hospital and at the CBSE-affiliated Cambrian Public School at Kanke. A sanitary napkin vending machine was also installed at the Cambrian Public School, which dispensed a pad after inserting a Rs five coin.
Murarka said since the state government had failed to come up with any system for disposal of sanitary pads, she had written to schools, hospitals, health department officials and girls' hostel owners to install incinerators.
Principal of Cambrian Public School Neeta Pandey said the incinerator installed on their campus would help girls to maintain hygiene. "Ours is the first school where an incinerator has been installed. Hygiene needs to be maintained everywhere be it schools, colleges or homes," she added.
When contacted, secretary of the school education and literacy mission Aradhana Patnaik said they were also planning to install incinerators in schools to burn sanitary pads.
"Several government schools, including Kasturba Gandhi residential schools, have constructed small pits around their campus where students dump used pads. We are also planning to install incinerators in schools," she said.
Contacted, Jaya Prasad, nodal officer for adolescent health of the state health department, said there were no provisions made by the department for disposal of used pads. "Though we normally suggest girls to burn used napkins on their own, I think, on our part, we should ensure safe disposal of used napkins to maintain proper hygiene," she said.
