Telangana Health Minister leads menstrual hygiene drive from the front

Harish Rao distributes free cloth sanitary pads to women residents of a Siddipet ward

The State government has launched an initiative titled ‘Rutu Prema’ to infuse confidence in women and destigmatise menstruation. As part of this, Health Minister T. Harish Rao distributed sanitary cups, pads and cloth diapers to female residents of the fifth ward of Siddipet Municipality on Wednesday.

“Rutu Prema should serve as a model to the nation in addressing the health problems of women. Experts say that diapers soaked with chemicals are harmful to women’s health. Cloth diapers are safer,” said Mr. Harish Rao, while addressing the awareness programme.

He said periods are natural for every woman, but in the past, people were shy to discuss it even with family members. “Not having an open discussion on the subject has created several problems in society. But I am happy that many women have come forward to frankly discuss this natural phenomenon,” he said and added that he was happy to be responding to the issue not only as a Minister but also as a responsible citizen.

The Minister assured distribution of cloth pads in all other wards shortly, and has directed Additional Collector Muzammil Khan and Commissioner of Police N. Swetha to create awareness about menstruation, known as rutu kramam in Telugu.

Ms. Swetha said periods used to be somewhat of a hush-hush topic, but it is heartening to see more people coming forward to openly discuss issues around it. A large number of women participated in the programme.