Cloth or pad: Women in jhuggis make a choice

Time of India

28-05-2025

New Delhi: It was just another hot afternoon outside Maharaja Agrasen Hospital — cars honking, rickshaws rattling, vendors shouting. But in the narrow lanes of Shivaji Park, a different scene unfolded.
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Under the shade of a jhuggi, a group of women sat huddled, watching a video on menstruation. Ovaries, eggs, blood — it played on a laptop screen. Some giggled, some nodded, some stared. "Yeh sab toh pata hai," a woman said, waving her hand dismissively. But when Asma, the mentor from the NGO Chetna, asked: "How many of you use sanitary pads only", only a few hands went up, that too of girls.
The truth trickled out: "Kapda ya sanitary pad?"
The answer was: "Jo sasta bhi pade. Toh kabhi kapda, ab kabhi pad bhi!"
The NGO, Childhood Enhancement through Training and Action (Chetna), is working with women here on menstrual hygiene awareness and Roopa (name changed) is in the huddle od women.
She manages with a pack of six pads every month — when she can afford it. Last month, she couldn't. "Our priorities are different," she said. Others chimed in: pads are a luxury, cloth is the norm.
But change is seeping in. Girls like Sanya (name changed) are using free pads they get through school schemes. "Even my mother benefits," Sanya smiled.
This wasn't a flashy health camp. It was a small, honest conversation, marking World Menstrual Hygiene Day, in a place where managing periods safely isn't a choice.
Only two or three women have been using sanitary pads for five years. How did they dispose it? An older woman answered: "Bury them in the sand."
Chetna wants to bring a change. In a baseline survey by the NGO in west and north-west Delhi slums, 59% women reported struggling to afford menstrual products; 64% said buying pads affected family budgets; 57% compromised on essentials like food or school fees; and 45% still followed menstrual myths — such as avoiding bathing, pickles or going to temples.
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Kamini (name changed), for instance, never had her mother to guide her. When she got her first period, she turned to her aunt, who told her to use a cloth and follow rules: don't touch pickles, don't enter temples, and stay home. Kamini learned about sanitary pads and menstrual cups in a Chetna session. Now, she uses pads.
Tarana (name changed), a 32-year-old mother of six, lives in a west Delhi slum, where open drains and lack of privacy make managing periods a nightmare.
She's constantly anxious about being seen while changing her pad. After Chetna's sessions, she feels ready to guide her daughters.
Reshma (name changed), 19, was torn between her sister's advice to use sanitary pads and her mother's strict rules: no bath, no cold water, no stretching. Chetna's sessions helped Reshma break free from these myths. Schools are stepping up too. Joginder Kumar, principal of Government Co-Ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 21, Rohini, said: "A teacher is appointed under the Kishori Scheme, allowing students to comfortably share their concerns.
" Govt supplies sanitary napkins with incinerators and disposers to schools. "These supplies benefit those students who otherwise might struggle to access them," he said.
At Ravishankar SKV, Bawana, the initiative goes beyond providing resources. Principal Sunita said, "As part of govt's effort, the directorate of education supplies one packet of free sanitary napkins each month to every girl student from Classes 6 to 12."
This year, the school's SAB (School Advisory Board) committee has made menstrual hygiene and nutritional care their top priority.Sanjay Gupta, director of Chetna, said: "For women in slums, using sanitary napkins is still not a choice.
It has a lot to do with money. We hear many tales — from women bound to practice myths in society to a lack of toilets or knowledge on proper disposal methods."
After a two-hour stay at the camp, back in the narrow lanes of Shivaji Park, the conversation continued—quiet, hopeful, determined. Women carried on with their day, a sanitary packet in hand.