Much before Akshay Kumar’s PadMan created a buzz, a city-based social outfit, ‘Nischay,’ has been running a campaign since May 2017 to gift sanitary napkins to rural girls.
The organisation is dedicated for women and children development and is working to break the taboo related to menstrual hygiene.
This year, Nischay has planned to gift more than 5000 sanitary napkins to rural girls on May 28 (World Menstrual Hygiene Day) through public participation.
People across the country Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Noida, Jammu, and Chennai have started donating for the drive.
Steel city-based short film-maker and social activist Nikhil Sharda is the brain behind the entire campaign.
“We are accepting both cash and napkins from people. Schools and colleges of Jamshedpur have also shown interest, few schools have started their campaign. We are talking to many other schools of the city to get associated with us. We also want citizens of the State to take part in the campaign,” said Sharda.
He added that the heart of this initiative is to inform young girls about bodily changes and prepare them to enter womanhood.
“We hope to provide a system that will sustain them as they grow to become confident women at ease with their bodies,” he noted. A short film ‘The Best Gift’ has also been made, which will also be screened on May 28.
Talking about the movie, Sharda said that, “it is a silent movie of five-minute duration, that is based around two Class IX students and how they face with menstruation due to remoteness of sanitary pads in rural areas, where periods is still considered a social taboo.
According to Nikhil, as per State Government records, only 40 per cent of girls across the State have access to sanitary napkins.
“The movie is appealing, as the film shows, how one of the girls with the help of her piggybank, buy a sanitary napkin for her friend.
The movie will be screened on the occasion of Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28," said Nikhi.
His first film: Only Me, based on child sexual abuse, was screened at Kolkata International Film Festival in 2013 and also created a buzz.
Nikhil, has contacted the State Government and wants to ensure ‘The Best Gift’ is screened at all Government schools across Jharkhand and at also at major functions and movie theatres. “We also want that the State Government and social outfits to join hands and help in setting up sanitary pad banks in schools where students will be able to get pads at subsidised rates,” he said.