From Kerala to Kashmir- sanitary napkins for flood victims

The News Minute | September 29, 2014 | 05:39 pm IST In the first week of September, Kashmir was hit by a devastating flood that killed over 200 people and displaced thousands.As the Army along with the locals carried out rescue operations, relief materials were constantly being sent to the people who were either stuck or had been displaced in the deluge.Food, clothes, medicines- these reportedly constituted most of the relief material. However, one crucial need seems to have gone unnoticed- the need for sanitary napkins for women.That is where Kudumbashree, a non-profit government organisation in Kerala came to their rescue.A video released recently on YouTube by Kudumbashree TV reports how the organisation took the responsibility after Get Closer, a CSR management company, informed them about the plight of women stuck in the floods. Kudumbashree immediately got to work and sent 10,000 free of cost sanitary napkins to the flood-hit women in Kashmir.“Our workers in Kudumbashree’s unit in Ernakulam, Kochi and Kottayam worked non-stop for two days and two nights and manufactured 10,000 sanitary napkins”, K.B. Valsala Kumari, Executive Director, Kudumbashree told The News Minute. The consignment was then sent to Kashmir.( The workers in Kudumbashree who prepared the consignment on time )Soon after the floods hit the northern most state of India, a few youngsters from Kerala, mostly software professionals, went to Kashmir to get an idea of the situation there. They also informed Kudumbashree that people had food in plenty. But what were most required was blankets and sanitary napkins, she said.Each sanitary napkin from Kudumbashree costs Rs 2.5 . However, their sales are not very high. “The sanitary napkins we make are very basic in structure and do not have wings. But today women mostly prefer napkins which have wings in them”, Vasala Kumari asserted.Stating that the organisation has been trying to get a better machine that can produce up to 6000 units per hour, she added “That sort of a machine will cost around Rs 1 crore. And we can make sanitary napkins with wings using it. But we do not have the funds for it”. Watch the video here:Tweet