PATNA: People across the world may be observing menstrual hygiene day on Tuesday, but for women, finding a sanitary napkin is a major problem in public places in the city. Almost all the city colleges, barring a few, lack sanitary napkin vending machine on their campuses.
A senior librarian at J D Women’s College, Ankita Kumari recalled how a student taking examination last week needed a sanitary napkin but could not be helped. “I was invigilating and a girl came to me asking for a pad. Her dress was totally stained and I regret I could not help her,” said Ankita, who was invigilating then.
A second year commerce student at St Xavier’s College, Annuradha Kumari admitted that there was no sanitary pad vending machine at her college and the girl students faced problems sometimes.
Though Patna Women’s College has a vending machine, it is not functional for the past nine months. Alka Kumari, a teacher, attributed it to the misuse of sanitary napkins.
Not only in educational institutes, women at workplace also face similar problems in the city. A woman employee at the state education department said there was no facility for sanitary pads at the Secretariat. She also said though there were separate toilets for women, there was no dustbin where used napkins could be disposed of.