SC seeks reply from Centre, states on plea for free sanitary pads for government school girl students

Stating that the petitioner has raised serious and important issues of sanitation and hygiene of girl students in government and government-aided schools, the Apex court of India asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court.

The Supreme Court has pulled Centre, states and Union territories (UTs) asking reply on a PIL urging the issuance of directions for providing free sanitary pads to girls studying in Class 6 to 12 in government schools across the country. Stating that the petitioner has raised serious and important issues of sanitation and hygiene of girl students in government and government-aided schools, the Apex court of India asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court.

Social activist Jaya Thakur, a Madhya Pradesh-based doctor has filed the plea. Taking note of the plea, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha issued notices to the central government and all the states and UTs. It sought replies of the Centre and states by the second week of January and directed that the copies of the petition be served to the states through their standing counsels.

Thakur, in her plea filed through advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, talked about the serious difficulties are faced by adolescent females between the ages of 11 and 18 years who come from poor backgrounds in receiving education on account of lack of access to education, a constitutional right under Article 21A of the Constitution.

"These are adolescent females who are not equipped with and are also not educated by their parents about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. The deprived economic status and illiteracy leads to the prevalence of unhygienic and unhealthy practices which has serious health consequences, increase obstinacy and leads to eventual dropping out from schools," the plea said.

Thakur, in her plea, arrayed the Centre and all states as party and sought directions to them for providing separate toilets in all government, aided and residential schools. It also sought directions to provide one cleaner in all government, aided and residential schools to clean the toilets and implementation of an awareness programme among students on menstrual health.

It said that to achieve gender equality, it is crucial that girls are able to actualize their educational potential. Referring to an 2018 order of the Delhi High Court, the plea said it had mandated the Delhi government to provide free or subsidized access to menstrual hygiene products in schools and to make arrangements for education on menstruation and menstrual hygiene. "The Government of India has deliberated for several years with regard to the inclusion of the right to education as a fundamental right. The Saikia Committee of 1997 had been appointed to examine the economic viability proposal as to whether the right to free elementary education up to 14 years of age could be made a fundamental right," it said.

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