Haryana govt to provide sanitary napkins to rural girls

Kurukshetra, Oct 24 (UNI) The Haryana Government will provide sanitary napkins free of cost to girls, particularly school-going girls, in villages to check anaemia amongst rural womenfolk.

"Sometimes a village girl hesitate to ask even her mother for sanitary napkins and it is difficult for her to personally purchase it from far-away towns. There is a need to provide the napkins at her home so that she does not adopt the old ways and means which sometimes spread infection," Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Development and Panchayat Department Urvarshi Gulati told UNI here last evening.

The Central Government has already sanctioned a proposal of the state government to this effect to make the rural sector totally free of any disease by 2010, said Ms Gulati, who was here to felicitate the Nirmal Gram award winner 108 gram panchayats of Kurukshetra district.

"Though people in Haryana are well-to-do and even wealthy in rural areas, yet they hardly pay any attention towards the physical and mental health of the womenfolk," she said.

The Haryana Government will get Rs 10 crores as award money for the 798 Nirmal Grams while Kurukshetra district will get Rs one crore for 108 gram panchayats which were awarded by the President of India, Ms Pratibha Patil on October 17 at Hisar.

The award money will be utilised by these panchayats for providing more community facilities in their area.

UNI XC PS JS1442