Turnstone Global, a non-profit organisation, joined hands with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and undertook “Project Roshni” in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal. The project aimed to create awareness among village girls and women about menstrual hygiene and to reduce the risk of different diseases relating to unhygienic practices during menstruation, particularly cervical cancer.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kanchan Gaba, secretary, Turnstone Global, said, “Cervical cancer is the 3rd largest cause of death in India. Our aim was to improve the status of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls and adult women in the community. We also wanted to provide a platform for rural women to generate income through the manufacturing of sanitary napkins.”

The project has also been a perfect example of women’s empowerment and economic self-reliance. Turnstone Global could install sanitary napkin manufacturing machines in the district, train over 260 women and form 13 SHG groups that manufacture sanitary napkins under the brand name Gunjan. They have been able to make each member of these SHG groups earn Rs 500 to Rs 2500 per month.

The idea behind the intervention is to mobilise the community and educate them on the gravity of the issues related to menstrual hygiene and how to tackle them. The SHGs are being empowered to start making low-cost sanitary napkins, which not only serve as a means to generate income but also make available the sanitary napkins for the rural community at a very low and affordable price.

Under Project Roshni, Turnstone Global also conducted a baseline survey among 1,020 village women and girls at Chanditala Block in Hooghly district in 2023. The study was conducted in 11 villages from five gram panchayats in Chanditala II block in the district of Hooghly. The survey distribution of each village in each gram panchayat is as follows: Beledanga, Khanpur, Thero, Bamandanga, Kalachara, Gokulpur, Janai, Baksa, Madhabpur, Khoragori and Garalgacha.

The following were the findings of the survey among these women:

• 80 per cent of the respondents threw the used materials into ponds and buried them in the ground.
• 15 per cent of the respondents threw away their used sanitary napkins or cloths along with other household waste on open land around their houses or in nearby ditches. Some of them also burnt their used sanitary napkins or cloths.
• 82 per cent of the respondents were not aware of menstruation before their first menstruation, which is essential for girls.
• 19 per cent of the respondents had scientific knowledge about menstruation. The rest did not have any clear view about their menstrual cycle, of which about 3 per cent still believed that menstruating women are unclean. Many women used cloths without following proper cleaning procedures for reusable cloths. Some women did not wash the cloths properly, dry them in the sun, or store them in a hygienic place.

After completing the baseline survey, Turnstone Global, along with Indian Oil, conducted 54 school health camps and 26 community health camps. Trainers emphasised topics like:

Menstrual hygiene, infections related to unclean sanitary pads and materials, the importance of changing pads frequently, information and advice on SRH (sexual and reproductive health) issues, services for Tetanus immunisation, services for prophylaxis against nutritional anaemia, risk of unsafe disposal of used sanitary materials, risk of not washing hands after handling used sanitary materials, nutrition counselling, treatment for common RTIs (reproductive tract infections) and STIs (sexually transmitted infections), and treatment and counselling for menstrual disorders, sexual concerns among male and female adolescents.