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India’s ‘Pad Man’ to help SL women?

20 Sep 2022

  • Govt. in talks to collaborate on local sanitary napkin production 
  • Keheliya praises Sajith’s efforts to highlight issue
  • Minister Nalin Fernando to resolve tax issues with Finance Ministry
BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Appreciating the efforts made by Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa to highlight the issues related to sanitary napkins as a national issue, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the State Ministry of Health is currently discussing the implementation of a sanitary napkin production programme in the country in collaboration with India’s famous “Pad Man” Arunachalam Muruganantham. During the Parliamentary session held yesterday (20), Premadasa said that a large number of schoolgirls no longer attend school when menstruating as they are unable to procure sanitary napkins.He also said that when current Government MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister, the latter had pointed out the importance of implementing a programme to resolve the issues with regard to sanitary napkins to then-Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi. “We first talked about this issue in 2019. When I was talking about this at that time, I got a nickname too. That’s alright. Sanitary napkins are one of the basic requirements for women. Don’t make fun of it. I think that the results of making fun of this kind of issue have now been seen by the entire country. Therefore, I would like to ask the Government to implement a programme to resolve this issue without any delay. This is something that should be at the top of the national agenda,” he said. In response to Premadasa, Rambukwella said that the State Ministry of Health, an independent group, and a non-Governmental organisation (NGO), including Malsha Kumaratunga (a reference to former Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga’s daughter), have come together to implement a programme to resolve the issue. He also said that they are currently in discussions with the “Pad Man” from India to increase the sanitary napkin production in the country.  “We are discussing a medium-term programme to increase the sanitary napkin production in the country in collaboration with the ‘Pad Man’. We hope to implement this as soon as possible and to make it an issue that needs to be discussed in society, as this is currently not the case. Setting a timeframe for its implementation is also important, as in most cases, there are discussions, but no implementation. Therefore, we hope to speed up the implementation of this programme too,” he said. Meanwhile, responding to a statement made by SJB MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna Kavirathna regarding issues faced by women and girls due to being unable to procure sanitary napkins, Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Nalin Fernando said that he had been informed of the issue by Rambukwella and State Minister of Health Dr. Seetha Arambepola on 16 September. Claiming that he was to meet sanitary napkin manufacturers and importers last evening, he said that any issue that may arise during the discussion will be resolved. He also said that if there are issues with regard to the taxes imposed on sanitary napkins, they will be discussed with the Ministry of Finance, and added that he is hopeful that a solution could be provided within this week. Earlier yesterday, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP Premnath C. Dolawatte raised a question with Rambukwella regarding the Government's plan to address the issues faced by women, particularly schoolgirls, in procuring sanitary napkins, as their prices have gone up in the recent past. In response to Dolawatte, Rambukwella said: “This issue has arisen due to the prevailing economic crisis and import restrictions. Given the seriousness of the issues pertaining to sanitary napkins, Dr. Arambepola has come to an agreement with Fernando to launch a programme on this issue. Although this issue is something that is directly affecting the health sector, the Education and Trade Ministries should also intervene in this.” Recalling that Premadasa has been presenting the sanitary napkin-related issues as a national issue, Rambukwella said that he totally agreed with Premadasa. He said that this issue is not something that will take years to be resolved, and that the Health State Ministry is currently discussing with a “powerful group” in India to establish sanitary napkin production in Sri Lanka as an industry. He also said that Dr. Arambepola will be taking the necessary action to implement the programme as soon as possible, as the resolution of this issue cannot be postponed. Speaking to The Morning last week, many parties, including politicians, trade unions, teachers, doctors, and parents noted that due to the massive increase in the cost of living this year and the significant increase in the price of sanitary napkins, many schoolgirls do not go to school on the days that they are menstruating, thus adversely affecting aspects such as their education, mental and physical health, and personality. It was also reported that a programme launched by the Government in 2021 to provide free sanitary napkins to schoolgirls in collaboration with a local sanitary napkin manufacturing company had been stopped shortly after its launch due to the relevant company being unable to bear the high cost of sanitary napkin production. Speaking to The Morning, State Minister of Women and Child Affairs and Acting Minister of Women, Child Affairs, and Social Empowerment Geetha Kumarasinghe said that she had recently come to know that a programme to provide free sanitary napkins to schoolgirls had been in place. However, she said, due to the economic crisis, the cost of the sanitary napkin production for that company had increased greatly, which has resulted in the cessation of that programme.

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