The Swachh Bharat Urban and Rural programmes of the Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation have approved vending machines and incinerators by healthcare product manufacturing company HLL Lifecare Limited, based in Thiruvananthapuram. In more than 150 government and aided schools, these equipments will be installed based on a joint venture between HLL and the panchayats of the city.
Other than supplying sanitary napkins, HLL which is a not-for-profit organization, under the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT) also organizes napkin awareness programmes across the country. The project will be inaugurated by Kerala Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran at the Central Stadium and the program will also be attended by Education Minister C Raveendranath, District panchayat chief V K Madhu and HLL CMD RP Khandelwal.
"Even though napkins are necessary for the health and hygiene of women, the usage in India is very low compared to many other developing countries. There are still a large number of village women in India who are hesitant to go to shops and buy napkins," said Khandelwal.
This move is approved under the Swatch Bharat Urban and Rural programmes of the Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The new machines called VENDIGO are to be installed at schools in Palade, Nedumangad, Vithura, Neyyatinkara, Kattakada, Venganoor, Maranalloor, Malayinkeezhu, Balaramapuram, Parassala and Aryanadu areas. HLL also installed machines at colleges, offices, hospitals, and hostels, Kochi Naval base and Kerala High Court. Other than Kerala these are also installed at Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and West Bengal.
VENDIGO machines are designed to dispense sanitary napkins at the touch of a button and inserting coins. It dispenses a pack of 3 at a time and works round the clock.