Bhubaneswar
Muruganantham Arunachalam from Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore made it his “mission” to ensure every Indian woman has access to sanitary pads during her periods. Superstar Akshay Kumar essayed his role in the movie ‘Padman’ that ensured his life story reached crores of households across India.
Cut to Badakutuli panchayat of Rayagada in Odisha. A 26-year-old Kondh tribal Binu Miniaka is out batting relentlessly for the use of sanitary napkins. Like Arunchalam, Binu too got upset over the use of unhygienic clothes by the rural female folk during their menstrual cycle in his panchayat.
Overcoming the initial hiccups, Binu is now free and frank with the shying and shrinking girls about menstrual details to motivate and mobilise them for remaining fit and fine with sanitary napkins. Kitted out with apt information and supported by UNICEF under its Sampuna Barta Project (SBP), he talks glibly about the ill-effects of the unhygienic cloth that the village girls after their puberty use traditionally.
Enlightened by his pep talk, adolescent girls in 11 villages under the panchayat shake off their inhibitions to learn more about the use of sanitary pads and many of them have emerged out of the rigid patterns clamped upon them by the tabooed society.
“Now I no more feel inhibited about talking about my menstrual period,” 19-year-old Kondh tribal girl Siromani Majhi of Badakutuli village tells The Indian Tribal. She is now very particular in using hygienic pads during her period.
“He has learnt the art of building bridges with people. This helped him clinch the seat of ward (No.2) member during the last panchayat poll,” says Kabiraj, the SBP project coordinator in Rayagada.
But it has never been a cakewalk for Binu. He had to shed blood, sweat and tears to tug girls out of their cocoons. When SBP took off in 2019, Binu was aware that girls in their teens would blush and blench when a male broached the topic of menstrual cycles before them. So, he teamed himself up with an all-women band of ASHA and Anganwadi workers to ease teenagers on out of their timidity to talk candidly and confidently.
“ASHA and Anganwadi workers helped me a lot. My training with them in Rayagada district headquarter in 2020 not only helped me learn about the components of SBP but also taught me how to reap rich dividends out of a united effort,” Binu shares with The Indian Tribal.
Binu and girls have a close-knit bond. The youngsters who were at odds with him earlier are now all ears, when Binu can discuss menstruation and sanitary napkins during the meeting at Anganwadi centres in the villages. Binu listens when they talk about their problems relating to menstrual cycles.
“Though Binu seems reticent to outside visitors, he fits the bill as a perfect leader before the village,” says Santosh Behera, the communication consultant of UNICEF.
“Earlier, girls in menstrual period remained in a room and kept aloof from their family members. They were served food separately. This superstitious practice continued for a week before they come out of their confinement. Now this taboo has been dismantled. Similarly, girls who used dirty cloth during their menstrual period now use sanitary napkins. Now they go in for sanitary napkins distributed among them under government’s Khusi programme. This process of change has been accelerated under the SBP with Binu playing the role of a key motivator,” says Hara Mandangi, the Anganwadi worker in village Kutuli.
Sangita Madangi, a Plus-I student of Rayagda college, feels grateful to Binu who helped remove all the cobwebs from her mind. “I no more remain confined in a room during my menstrual period. Nor do I ever use dirty cloth as my sanitary pads. This could be possible only because of Binu,” she says.
