When recommendations for providing restrooms and sanitary napkin facilities for females in schools were released, the Patna High Court believed that the District Administration or local authorities could be trusted to set up and maintain such facilities in an efficient manner.
The Supreme Court ordered the federal government to create a national policy on menstrual hygiene for all school-aged girls in the nation on Monday, April 10. The CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala-led panel ruled that the aforementioned policy must guarantee affordable sanitary napkins and secure sanitary napkin disposal facilities in schools. The bench was considering a petition asking for instructions to be given to the Union of the States and the Union Territories to ensure, among other things, that girl students in grades 6 through 12 have access to sanitary pads, and that all government, government-aided schools and residential schools have separate restrooms for girls.
SC ordered the federal government to create and carry out a standard policy on menstrual hygiene in schools, including the free provision of sanitary napkins, on Monday. Additionally, it requested information from the states on the availability of women’s restrooms and the availability of sanitary pads in schools.
The argument was made by attorney Varinder Kumar Sharma, who claimed that the stigma attached to menstruation, lack of access to menstrual products, and inadequate menstrual hygiene management options are major obstacles to education and have caused many girls to leave school.
The petition requests guidance from the federal government, the states, and the UTs about the provision of free sanitary pads to all girl students in grades 6 through 12 as well as the installation of girls’ restrooms in public and residential schools. A three-stage awareness program was also demanded in the petition to raise knowledge of menstruation health, offer enough sanitation facilities, subsidised or free sanitary goods, and guarantee the effective and hygienic disposal of menstrual waste.
The secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) was appointed by the bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala as the nodal officer to cooperate with all states and UTs to collect pertinent data for developing national policy.
According to the court, “Union shall work with all states to ensure the implementation of a unified national policy so that states can apply the same with modifications. We order all states and UTs to submit their menstrual hygiene policies, which are being carried out with their own funds, to the Secretary of the Health Ministry within four weeks, considering the gravity of the issue raised. The Mission Steering Group, established by the Union Health Ministry, was also given a court order to review the national regulations. States and UTs were to inform the Mission Steering Group of the proportion of girls’ restrooms in residential and non-residential schools, it was stated. For schools where girls are enrolled in higher secondary and secondary classes, States and UTs must demonstrate the costs associated with sanitary pads, provide sanitary pad vending machines, and guarantee that a disposal mechanism is accessible.
Name: Sarah Garima Tigga, Semester: VI, College: Symbiosis Law School (Pune)
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