As the nation gears up for Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Padman’ movie, about 10 ‘padwomen’ from socially backward Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh are breaking the glass ceiling by making and selling sanitary pads in their village.
These ‘padwomen’ from Aamba Khodra village have taken up responsibility to free women and girls in their area of disease occurred by using clothes during menstrual periods.
Padwomen group leader Hemlata said, people in the village initially protested their move and even threatened them for selling sanitary pads.
“Thanks to the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), we never had to look back or stop the initiative,” she said.
“They began with making sanitary pads for themselves and later sold them to others in the village. These women are now not only earning Rs 900-1000 per head, but also helping females in their village get rid of menstrual health diseases,” she said.
“Earlier, the villagers opposed the initiative. Now, not only they support it, but also elderly women buy these pads for their daughters and daughter-in-laws,” one Sarika said.
“Coming up as a unit of padwomen was not easy for these women. Initially, they got little or no support, but their self motivation interested the agency,” Vishal Rai, an NRLM official, said.