Hygiene through waste

Weve seen women use dirty,leftover pieces of cloth and even household ash packed in sheets of newspaper as napkins,which is a health hazard. With the government focusing on reproductive health,providing awareness to these women on personal care and hygiene is high on the agenda. With these target groups in mind,this project will work towards developing and selling low-cost sanitary napkins, says Grewal.

The project,launched by the Department of Science and Technology two years ago,is being set up at eight locations,including Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Two scientists from PAU and three from the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology work on the project as collaborators.

Harminder Kaur Saini,Associate Professor,Department of Clothing and Textile at PAU,says,This project has been given to a self-help group and we will provide complete assistance to them for the next two years. For now,we have procured some 50 kg of cotton waste from the local industry and have broken it down to the fibre level. This fibre will be washed,dried and made into lap sheets. These lap sheets will then be cut into various sizes and then sealed within two sheets of polypropylene and polyethylene to form a napkin.

To start with,machines to make the lap sheets and for auto sealing,a hydro extractor and a hot-air drier have been purchased and are being installed at Ayali village. The cost of these machines is close to Rs 4 lakh. Studies have shown that some 120-125 sanitary napkins can be made from 1 kg of cotton fibre. While the cost of these napkins two years ago,when we were researching for the project,was Re 1-Rs 1.50,we will only know the final cost once we go into production. Certain aspects like the number of napkins produced within one hour or the raw material used or wasted still need to be seen. At the same time,we will manufacture three different types of napkins for less,medium and high flow, Saini says.

While the target group and the product are ready,the experts are now busy studying the demand and supply figures. To begin with,we will supply these napkins to hospitals,rural dispensaries,schools and colleges. Door-to-door selling is also on the cards. But then,all this has to be decided by the self-help group once we go into production, Saini says.

A group of women from this self-help group have trained in the entire process at Lady Irwin College,New Delhi. The university is also making a short film which will be shown at various places to create awareness among women and young girls.