Jamia students break taboos around period; create reusable sanitary pads

New Delhi : Reshma, a resident of a slum in South Delhi, often wondered how sanitary napkins are made.
Her inquisitiveness further increased when she learnt that menstrual pads can be made using natural products instead of plastic.
Now further into her exploration, she works at a unit manufacturing “reusable and environment-friendly” pads invented by a group of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students.
The unit is spearheading a change in a locality in Madanpur Khadar’s Shram Vihar where women do not talk about “lady’s problems” in front of men, let alone manufacture sanitary products under their guidance.
“When bhiaya and didi came, we were very shy to speak about period in front of them but once we saw videos and learnt more about it, we became quite comfortable. Now I work on a hydraulic press which is used to prepare napkin core and I have become good at it,” Reshma (35), who is one of the six women workers in the unit, said.
Shrimati napkin, which is prepared using bamboo and banana fibres, is reusable, environmentally friendly and can last for over a 12-period cycle, claim its inventors.