'Not Considered Provision for Mandatory Paid Menstrual Leave in Workplaces': MoS Bharati Pawar

New Delhi: The government has not considered making provision for mandatory paid menstrual leave in all workplaces, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Lok Sabha on Friday. In a written reply, she said menstruation is a normal physiological phenomenon and only a small proportion of women/girls suffer from severe dysmenorrhea or similar complaints and most of these cases are manageable by medication.

The government implements the Scheme for Promotion of Menstrual Hygiene among adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years. The scheme is supported by the National Health Mission through State Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) route based on the proposals received from states/UTs, the minister said. Since 2015-16, the procurement of sanitary napkins is decentralised for ensuring quality standards.

The major objectives of the scheme are to increase awareness among adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene, to increase access to and use of high quality sanitary napkins by adolescent girls, and to ensure safe disposal of sanitary napkins in an environment-friendly manner.

Under the scheme, packs of sanitary napkins are provided to adolescent girls by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) at subsidised rates. The government also provides budget to the states and UTs for orientation of field level health workers and IEC activities for menstrual hygiene, she added.