New Delhi: The 3rd Summit of ‘Menstrual Health Management India’ (MHM) was held in Delhi for 2 days. The conference was organized by ‘Gramalaya’, a social service organization based in Trichy.
Menstruation is a taboo subject in families and outsiders across India. Many people do not pay attention to this natural problem of women’s body. Women especially in rural India suffer without attention. This is due to the unavailability of proper sanitary napkins for them and the difficulty of disposing of them after use.
A social service organization called ‘Gramalaya’ has been functioning for 37 years with Trichy as its headquarters to create awareness among women in this regard.
Gramalaya manufactures sanitary napkins made of 100% cotton fabric and provides them free of cost. This organization has so far distributed about two and a half lakh nappies in 7 states of South India including Tamil Nadu. S. Damodaran, founder and CEO of Gramalaya, was honored with the Padma Shri National Award in 2022 for this outstanding work.
On behalf of the international organization Gramalaya, the first summit was held in Delhi in 2019 and the second summit was held in Chennai. The 3rd Summit on ‘Menstrual Health Management India’, which was postponed due to the spread of Corona, has been resumed in Delhi.
The 2-day conference concluded yesterday. In this, representatives of various private and social service organizations from abroad and across the country participated. Along with them, 180 women from rural areas of North Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan came as special invitees.
Ambassadors in India, Ferdi Sven, Consul General of Royal Danish, Ruben Cauci, Consul General of Malta, one of the republics, and his wife Dr. Olga V. Cauci inaugurated the first day of the conference.
Following this, consultative meetings were held with leaders and administrators of various social service organizations at the international and Indian levels. Among these, panel discussions were held on various topics including what doctors should do, role of MMH organizations in awareness, environmental management and disposal.
An exhibition of women’s consumables was also held on behalf of Gramalaya and various social service organizations involved in menstrual period awareness work. 10 people from national level social service organizations were also given ‘Award of Excellence MHM India’ by Gramalaya.
