SC reads menstrual health into fundamental rights, directs schools to provide free napkins

The Supreme Court directed all State and Union Territory governments to ensure that all schools, including both government-run and privately managed institutions, provide free sanitary napkins and functional, gender-segregated toilets, warning that non-compliance would invite strict action, as it held that the right to menstrual health forms an integral part of the right to life with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Issuing a series of binding directions, a Bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ordered the Centre, States and Union Territories to implement comprehensive Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) measures within three months, while making it clear that private schools could face de-recognition for violations and State governments would be held directly accountable for failures in public institutions under the Right to Education Act.

The court underscored that dignity under Article 21 cannot remain an abstract constitutional promise and must translate into real conditions that allow individuals to live without humiliation or exclusion, particularly noting that the absence of MHM facilities in schools subjects menstruating girl children to stigma, stereotyping and avoidable suffering, thereby undermining both their dignity and their educational rights.

Linking menstrual health directly to the right to education, the Bench observed that the effective exercise of educational rights requires the removal of structural impediments, and it held that the lack of toilets, menstrual absorbents and safe disposal mechanisms disproportionately affects adolescent girls, leading to recurrent absenteeism, learning gaps, declining academic performance and, eventually, school dropouts.

The judgment noted that the absence of adequate MHM measures does not merely disrupt school attendance but has long-term consequences for a girl child’s access to opportunities later in life, as repeated and prolonged absence from classrooms compounds educational disadvantage and reinforces gender-based inequality.

Emphasising the concept of substantive equality, the court held that equality can only be meaningfully realised when supported by proactive State action aimed at correcting existing structural disadvantages, and it clarified that such positive duties require governments to actively dismantle patterns of discrimination and exclusion rather than rely on formal or symbolic compliance.

Accordingly, the court directed that every school, whether located in urban or rural areas, must be equipped with functional, gender-segregated toilets with usable water connectivity, while all toilets, existing or newly constructed, must ensure privacy, accessibility for children with disabilities and uninterrupted access to soap and water for handwashing.

It further ordered that schools must provide oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins, manufactured in accordance with prescribed standards, free of cost to girl students, and ensure their easy availability through vending machines within toilet premises or through designated authorities within the school where such installations are not immediately feasible.

Schools were also instructed to establish dedicated MHM corners stocked with spare uniforms, innerwear and other essential materials to address menstruation-related emergencies, while ensuring the presence of safe, hygienic and environmentally compliant mechanisms for the disposal of sanitary waste in line with solid waste management rules.

Interpreting the norms under the Right to Education Act, the Bench held that the requirement of barrier-free access extends beyond physical entry into school buildings and includes the obligation to remove all barriers that prevent regular attendance, explicitly recognising the absence of menstrual hygiene facilities as a critical factor contributing to girls dropping out of school.

The ruling arose from a public interest litigation seeking free sanitary napkins, separate toilets and awareness programmes for girls studying in Classes 6 to 12, and the court will review compliance reports after three months under a continuing mandamus to assess the extent of implementation across the country.