A study published in the International Research Journal of Social Sciences suggests that 88% of menstruating women in India cannot afford sanitary napkins in India, with taxes on pads going up to 14.5% in some states. #LahuKaLagaan, #HappyToBleed and #IAmNotDown are only few of the trends that picked up on Twitter, appealing to ministers that sanitary napkins are a bare necessity and not a luxury. Turns out that Kerala’s government is the only one that did not turn a deaf ear to this movement, and in a historic move, made it mandatory for all higher secondary schools to install sanitary napkin vending machine. Through a Facebook post (originally posted in Malayalam), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced the ‘She Pad’ initiative spanning five years, allotting a budget of Rs. 30 crore, stating that every woman has a right to menstrual hygiene. He had promised installation of eco-friendly disposal systems, along with the promise of distributing sanitary pads in all schools across the state.

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