Young females in Bastar struggle greatly with menstruation

Rakhi, a student in Class 8, lives in a small village not far from Nangur, Chhattisgarh. Her physical constraints make it difficult for her to perform manual activities effectively. She uses her legs to complete all of her jobs, including writing and spoon-holding. She has a physical disability that makes it difficult for her to enter hostels because she needs assistance during her period and is unable to use her hands. Since her village is far from her school and she won't be able to reside in the dormitory, Rakhi is currently worried that she will have to stop studying.

Stories like these are quite prevalent in Chhattisgarh's rural areas, where many female pupils must quit school due to menstruation. Even as science and technology grow and the globe develops, these young children still struggle to finish their schooling. For students like Rakhi, the fact that most instruction during the pandemic was relocated online seemed to be a blessing, but now that things are getting back to normal, she is once again facing discrimination because of her physical condition.

During the pandemic, Bastar's children had a high dropout rate, but today, more boys than girls attend school. Many teenage girls in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, have identified menstruation as a significant issue. The bulk of the children either skip school for a few days or use clothes since, even though there are sanitary vending machines in the schools, the sanitary napkins are of low quality. Buying sanitary products is expensive, and low-cost sanitary items frequently have poor quality, according to Mhafuza Hussain, director of the Aarfa Welfare Foundation, who spoke with The Sunday Guardian.

Along with dropping out of school, many indigenous women avoid going to the doctor for fear of contracting illnesses because the subject is highly taboo. Tribal women continue to utilize leaves, ashes, or garments throughout their menstrual cycle and are required to remain in some quiet regions outside of their homes in several areas of Bastar due to blind beliefs about untouchability during this time. Due to unsanitary hygiene standards, ladies are urged not to touch anyone or the water used in the kitchen or for other household things while they are menstruating.

To help women in the Bastar region maintain good menstrual hygiene, a social worker from Chhattisgarh named Karamjeet Kaur continues to work there. Together with her crew, she visits the Haat Bazaar to give out sanitary products to women. She has covered Bastar's few blocks as well as Tokapal Lohandiguda. "While most schoolkids wish to use sanitary napkins, the majority of girls are deterred from doing so because there aren't any high-quality sanitary napkins readily available. Sometimes there are no sanitary napkins accessible in the vending machines, and other times they are entirely broken. Additionally, sanitary napkins are sold in the majority of neighborhood shops, but the villagers cannot afford them due to their high cost, "The majority of women also feel uncomfortable discussing menstrual irregularities and rarely seek medical attention when necessary. Additionally, if they have an infection, they may not realize it and carry on living that way. Men sometimes fail to take these factors into account and raise objections when someone tries to teach women in the communities, she continued.

Boys are more likely than girls, according to various reports, to have abandoned school in favor of a paid profession. In rural areas of Bastar, rising school dropout rates have also contributed to an increase in child marriages. Unfortunately, despite the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's best efforts, some 23 million girls drop out of school each year due to a lack of access to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) facilities. A comprehensive, in-depth, culturally relevant menstruation education program will increase girls' knowledge and understanding as well as that of their families, schools, and communities. These initiatives will lower the number of female students quitting school. Having access to sufficient sanitary facilities and supplies will help in increasing the attendance of girls in rural schools.