The Supreme Court has asked the Center to clarify the aspects highlighted by the petitioner related to the ground situation on menstrual hygiene in schools before implementing the policy. During the hearing on November 12, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Pankaj Mittal asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to look into the aspects highlighted by the petitioner.
ANI, New Delhi. The Supreme Court has asked the Center to clarify aspects related to the menstrual hygiene policy before implementing it on the ground in schools. During the hearing on November 12, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Pankaj Mittal asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to look into the aspects highlighted by the petitioner and clarify the position till the next hearing. The next hearing of the case will be on December 3.
During the hearing, the apex court was informed that the Central Government has formulated a national policy regarding menstrual hygiene for girl students in schools. ASG Aishwarya Bhati said a lot still remains to be done for proper and effective implementation of the policy.
Government made policy without assessment
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the policy framed does not in any way take into account the reliefs sought in the petition. Counsel for the petitioner highlighted that the policy has been framed without obtaining necessary information or assessing the ground situation.Counsel for the petitioner brought to the notice of the Court that during the petitioner’s recent visit to District Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, the petitioner found that there were no peons in the schools and there was no such thing as housekeeping in the government middle schools.
Visited many schools of Madhya Pradesh and saw the situation, very serious – petitioner
The petitioner also interrogated various people living in different districts and found that the situation was very serious. The petitioner further stated that in the district Damoh of Madhya Pradesh, there is no facility to provide sanitary pads, especially in middle schools (between 12 to 15 years) and if any girl would require it, the school would ask the girl to Is asked for.The court was hearing a plea seeking direction to governments to provide free sanitary pads to girls studying in classes 6 to 12. This petition has been filed by social activist Jaya Thakur through lawyers Varinder Kumar Sharma and Varun Thakur.
