M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, March 25: Sanitary napkins made by the women self-help groups in Palamu’s Chainpur-based sanitary napkin making unit face stiff business competition from the branded companies dealing with it.
Intimate hygiene is now a big growing industry and sanitary napkins are a roaring business but mostly captured by companies that give the most attractive advertisements on televisions and social platforms.
The result of this is that locally made intimate hygiene items fail to compete with the big companies.
A civil society activist K K Prasad said the district administration should start selling locally made sanitary napkins at each of the public distribution shops.
He said it is the women of the family that visit the public distribution shops more for the ration. These women will find it easier to buy it along with the ration.
He suggested that right at the time of admissions in the schools and colleges, these sanitary pads can be pushed through the admission counter to the eligibles.
“Free distribution of these napkins will not make locally made sanitary pads buyable and payable,” the civil society activist admonished.
A programme ‘Tejaswani’ under the ICDS could not pull this sanitary napkin business or marketing anymore.
4 dedicated women make sanitary napkins in the Chainpur unit. But a huge stock of it is unsold.
Satya Priya Tiwary, the block programme manager said, “We have around 25,000 pieces of ready to use sanitary napkins stored here just for want of its marketing.”
“Despite our quality and affordable price our sanitary napkin is yet to make inroads into the commercial hub,” he said.
A packet of 6 sanitary napkins comes for only Rs.18 which is the wholesale price. The stuff is sterilised too and eco friendly.
“There aren’t many people that want to buy it. Its users like branded products. We aren’t yet a household name in the sanitary napkin industry,” Satya Priya Tiwary said.
“The wage is one rupee per sanitary napkin,” added Tiwary. A trained woman can make 730 sanitary napkins a day and can earn Rs. 730.
