In a move to ensure menstrual health, the General Education department has launched a survey of sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators in government schools across the State.
“Based on the survey findings, necessary funds will be allocated in the plan outlay for the next academic year. A total of 203 schools were provided with incinerators in the 2025-2026 academic year. We are awaiting data from schools and will prepare the plan accordingly,” said N.S.K. Umesh, Director of General Education.
The initiative has gained attention against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the right to menstrual hygiene is an integral part of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Several schools in the State face multiple challenges in ensuring menstrual hygiene, the foremost being inadequate funding and infrastructure maintenance.
K.V. Manoj, Principal, Government Higher Secondary School, Vaduvanchal, Wayanad, who is part of the district monitoring team of teachers, said while vending machines and incinerators in his school were functional, he had often observed that they tend to develop glitches in a few schools.
“Our challenge is not poor infrastructure but its management. In our school, menstrual cups, supplied by the Suchitwa Mission, are also distributed for free,” he added.
