Conversations around menstrual hygiene and health have definitely improved over the years. However, if you look closely, you’ll see that the problems haven’t entirely been solved at the grassroots level. If you talk to schoolgirls in semi-urban or rural locations, you’ll understand how menstruation often puts them in stressful, uncomfortable, and often embarrassing situations.

An unexpected period, a lack of immediate access to sanitary products, or hesitation to ask for help can quietly affect a girl’s confidence and ability to participate in school. Hence, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), a NITI Aayog-registered women empowerment NGO in India, collaborated with companies to install sanitary pad vending machines in government schools across India. This collaboration was aligned with their CSR project to bring meaningful results.

We firmly believe installing sanitary pad vending machines in schools can help schoolgirls continue learning with dignity and confidence. We’ve covered more about it in this blog post today, so ensure you read till the end.

Easy Access to Menstrual Products in Schools Matters More Than You Realise

Although menstruation is a natural biological process, society still views it as a taboo topic. It’s why many girls continue to experience discomfort and silence around it, especially in public spaces like schools. The problem can be glaringly severe for adolescent girls if their schools aren’t prepared to support their menstrual hygiene needs.

In such cases, girls may avoid attending classes on heavy flow days, and even if they do, they struggle to concentrate because they are worried about stains, discomfort, or a lack of access to sanitary products.

In this regard, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), a Jaipur-based women empowerment NGO in India, believe that the problem isn’t merely about a girl’s hygiene and health, but also about her continuity in education. If a girl feels unsupported during menstruation, she may become less confident in classroom interactions, sports, and other school activities. They may even start missing school due to a lack of a continuous supply of sanitary pads. Over time, this repeated discomfort and absenteeism can affect their overall academic engagement and emotional well-being.

Sanitary Pad Vending Machines: A Practical & Sustainable Solution

One of the best ways to support schoolgirls during their menstruation is to provide them with easy access to menstrual products. It can only be achieved by installing sanitary pad vending machines in schools, and educating girls, school administration, and those around them about menstrual health and hygiene.

It’s a key reason why we collaborated with companies, such as National Internet Exchange of India, IRCON International Limited, and RAITEL, to install sanitary pad vending machines in government schools. This installation helps schoolgirls get immediate and discreet access to menstrual products within school premises.

It can significantly benefit girls who unexpectedly get their periods during school hours or may not have carried sanitary products that day. Since many girls feel hesitant to approach teachers, staff members, or classmates to ask for sanitary pads, this vending machine on the school campus can help them access pads easily and independently.

It will eliminate any embarrassment and anxiety that schoolgirls previously faced during their menstrual cycles.

Beyond Infrastructure: Building Menstrual-Friendly Schools

While sanitary pad vending machines are important, they cannot operate on their own. They’ll perform best when they act as a part of the broader menstrual hygiene support system.

If one installs and forgets, then the machines won’t deliver the intended results. They cannot address all the challenges girls face during menstruation if a school lacks basic sanitation infrastructure. Hence, besides machine installation, we also help schools with –

• Proper disposal systems
• Menstrual hygiene awareness sessions
• Teacher sensitisation

Our team ensures that all these elements work together, so the school becomes more inclusive and responsive to the everyday realities of adolescent girls. It also helps create an emotionally safe learning environment for girls, where they can continue their learning activities without feeling shame or anxiety about their menstruation.

Project Garima: Ending Menstruation-Related Challenges for Schoolgirls

We at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India) designed the ‘Project Garima’ to improve menstrual hygiene management among schoolgirls in government schools, particularly those in semi-urban and rural areas.

As part of this project, our team supplied and installed high-quality sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators in government schools, ensuring girls always have continuous access to quality menstrual products.

We didn’t stop at the vending machine and incinerator installations. Instead, our team also organised awareness workshops on menstrual health & hygiene and demonstrated how to use the vending machines and incinerators effectively.

To date, our Project Garima has helped schoolgirls –

• Improve their menstrual hygiene
• Reduce school absenteeism
• Become more aware of menstrual health
• Have easy access to a safe menstruation product disposal facility

Collectively, it has benefited schoolgirls immensely. Thanks to sanitary pad vending machines, they no longer have to skip school or limit their academic activities.

Bringing Dignified Education to Hundreds of Schoolgirls

At Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), we focus on bringing tangible improvements at the ground level. We’ve collaborated with numerous organisations for their flagship CSR projects, but our recent partnership with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) deserves special mention here.

Together, we at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India) and NSIL have already installed sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators in around 65 government schools in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

This installation was intended to ensure that schoolgirls have easy, dignified, and safe access to menstrual hygiene products. We’ve also provided incinerators so that used pads can be disposed of safely, rather than being randomly thrown outside in the open.

School principals of all these government schools appreciated this initiative and firmly believe it will increase girls’ participation in school activities and improve their overall academic performance.

Conclusion

Installing sanitary pad vending machines in schools isn’t about convenience alone. It’s a part of our larger effort to make education just as much inclusive, supportive, and dignified for girls as it is for male students. We are certain that easy and immediate access to menstrual products will help reduce discomfort, absenteeism, and hesitation that girls usually faced before.

If you also want to contribute to this noble cause, you can join the team at Manav Vikas Sanstha (MVS India), a leading women empowerment NGO in India, as a volunteer. Alternatively, you can also donate to support our Project Garima. Businesses seeking to align their CSR projects with this theme can collaborate with us to achieve strategic implementation and meaningful results.

You can email us at hello@mvsindia.org or call us directly at +91 8955009377/ +91 9549127666.