Mahadevapura MLA Manjula Aravind Limbavali will distribute menstrual cups and reusable cloth pads to 500 women in Kannamangala panchayat on Monday, as part of Menstrual Hygiene Day observed on May 28.
The programme is a collaboration between Force GW, Stonesoup Trust, and Mahadevapura Task Force, and is a component of their solid waste management project — 'Namma Swaccha Kannamangala'.
Malini Parmar from Stonesoup.in says menstrual products contribute significantly to municipal waste.
Malini says: "Many companies in Bengaluru are trying to sell menstrual cups and reusable pads, but there is a general lack of awareness about these products. Women also need some support initially to transition to these. If more people use and discuss these products, changes will be quicker in the community."
Stonesoup will hold awareness sessions for the women and support them regarding the product usage.
Lingaraj Urs, convenor (Environment), Mahadevapura Task Force, explains that they initiated the menstrual hygiene project six months ago by distributing menstrual cups to 150 women in Devanamara Colony. "We want to increase the scope of the project. Our objective is to distribute menstrual cups to at least 3,000 women in the gram panchayat area."
The 500 women receiving the menstrual cups on Monday, across all 11 panchayats in Mahadevapura constituency, were selected based on their needs. The cups are sponsored by Rotary International, SVP India, and Conga Solutions.