Jaipur: The Rajasthan government has decided to provide free sanitary napkins to women and made a provision of Rs 200 cr in the 2022-23 budget.
Mamta Bhupesh, the women and child development minister, said that the 'I Am Shakti Udan' scheme is being implemented in a phased manner in the entire state. Rajasthan is the first state in India to implement such a scheme on a large scale.
"Supply orders have been issued to provide free sanitary napkins to over 1.15 crore beneficiaries at 60,361 Anganwadi centers in 33 districts, and 26.48 lakh beneficiaries in 34,104 government schools in the state. There has been no change in the size of free sanitary napkins being given to women and girls in rural areas," she told the assembly.
The government has been running Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL) for the past year. This distributed free sanitary napkins to 26,220 schools in 31 districts, and 31,255 Anganwadi centers in 23 districts. "A total of Rs 104.78 crores has been spent by RMSCL for the initiative," she added.