Rajasthan to distribute free sanitary pads in rural areas

Jaipur: A new scheme promoting menstrual hygiene, under which sanitary pads will be provided to girls and women in rural areas of Rajasthan, will be launched in Rajasthan, state Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said.

Raje, who also holds the finance portfolio, allotted Rs 76 crore for the scheme which she announced during her budget speech in the assembly today.

According to the chief minister, the sanitary pads will be distributed to women under the age group of 15-45 through schools, colleges, anganwadis, sub-health centres and Annapurna Bhandars.

She also announced to raise the honorarium of Anganwari worker, which she claimed would benefit over 1.84 lakh women workers.

With that, in the medical and health sector, Raje proposed Rs 7.29 crore for installing firefighting and fire detection system in 27 district hospitals and announced the development of 581 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) as Adarsh primary health centres and wellness centre in rural areas.

Besides, Raje also announced 28 new primary health centres and upgradation of 16 PHCs to Community Health Centres.

Swine flu and VDRL lab in Jaipuria hospital, including new catheterization labs in SMS hospital Jaipur, medical college (Bikaner) and medical college (Ajmer) also made it to the list of the proposed projects.

In education sector, the chief minister announced upgradation of 1,832 schools under various categories and free wi-fi services in all government colleges, among other things.