IIT ROORKEE installed sanitary napkin vending machine

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee formerly University of Roorkee and Thomason College of Civil Engineering, is a public technical and research university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.  Established in 1847 in British India by the then lieutenant governor, Sir James Thomason is the second oldest technical institution in Asia. 

Stree Sanman is an organization where it delivers confidence among the women when they are going through the menstrual cycle by providing Sanitary Napkin, through Sanitary Napkin vending machines and Incinerators for proper disposal of the used sanitary napkin. IIT Roorkee is the first IIT to install the devices for their women Students and employees working for their organization as a part of its social initiative HASI (Health and Sanitary Initiation). It has set up 4 Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine in 4 prime locations of campus on 6th March 2019. This initiative was a part of IIT Roorkee Cognizance, the Annual Tech Fest (March 15-16), that is conducted by the institute.

Many studies found that 50% of girls have no idea what menstrual cycle and even they are not aware of how to manage it when they get their first period. To increase the awareness among women and girls, IIT Roorkee conducted a gathering for setting up the machine, and their program name was ‘Stories of Solidity.’ In this program, several famous women took part and share their struggles during their periods and overcoming obstacles such as taboo around menstrual hygiene. In this program, Maya Vishwakarma, the ‘Pad Women’ of India, said that the awareness of menstruation should include in the education system, and female students should educate menstrual hygiene.

Stree Sanman was facilitated for donating the Sanitary Napkin Vending Machines to IIT Roorkee.