The Khushi Scheme: A Massive Step Towards Menstrual Hygiene

Menstruation is one of the most important biological stages of a woman’s life. For maintaining menstrual hygiene, women need basic things like sanitary napkins. However, in India, there has always been a taboo associated with menstruation due to which many girls aren’t aware of it unless they reach an age and experience menstruation themselves. This is where the Khushi Scheme comes into play.

Adolescent girls, especially those who reside in the rural and remote parts of the state suffer the most from this ‘unnecessary fear of talking about menstruation, a biological process’; with no or limited awareness, there are limited supplies of sanitary napkins as well which puts them in a very unexpected and new situation which hinders their daily functioning like attending school.

The state government of Odisha launched a state govt scheme called the Khushi scheme to address this issue in the state. The scheme provides girls studying in government schools with free sanitary napkins, offers subsidies on sanitary napkins for women, and spreads awareness about menstruation and menstrual hygiene.

Read the article to learn more about the state govt scheme starting from its meaning, benefits, and the impact it carries.

Overview: The Khushi Scheme

Name of the initiative	Khushi scheme
Launched in	2018
Launched by	The State government of Odisha
Under the Department of	Department of Health and Family Welfare
Objective	To provide free sanitary napkins and also spread awareness about menstruation and menstrual hygiene
Target group	Girls studying in govt schools in classes 6th to 12th
Eligibility criteria	Girls studying in govt schools and from the state of Odisha
Application process	Through schools

Read more: Kishori Shakti Yojana

What Is The Khushi Scheme?

The Khushi Yojana was launched by the state government of Odisha under the Department of Health and Family Welfare in the year of 2018. The main aim of the govt scheme is for girls studying in government schools with free sanitary napkins, to offer subsidies on sanitary napkins for women, and also spread awareness about menstruation and menstrual hygiene.

Through this scheme, the authorities aim to remove the taboo around the word of menstruation, educate girls and others about it, provide girls with all that they need like sanitary napkins, and build a safe environment in schools where they can talk about whatever issue they start facing concerning menstruation or anything else.

Objectives

There are several features of the Khushi Yojana aimed at fulfilling all the goals of the state govt scheme. Some of its major features are mentioned below in brief for one’s reference:

• Awareness: The women's scheme aims to spread awareness about menstruation and menstrual hygiene to both, girls and women and boys and men.

• Reduce dropout rates: The Khushi Yojana also aims to reduce the dropout rates or absences of girls from schools because of limited access to menstrual hygiene.

• Empowerment: The yojana has a vision of empowering girls and women by creating an environment where they can talk about anything and everything.

Benefits

Khushi Yojana was launched with just one objective and that is to improve the conditions of menstrual hygiene. However, there are many benefits of the Khushi Yojana not only for women but for other citizens as well such as.

• Free or subsidised sanitary napkins: The government scheme provides girls studying in government schools with free sanitary napkins and also offers subsidies on sanitary napkins for women.

• Focused area: The Khushi Yojana is specially designed for girls in schools from rural and remote parts of the state as they have strictly limited access to resources and knowledge.

• Employment generation: The scheme also generates employment in the local areas under the scheme as people are required for the implementation of the scheme.

Eligibility Criteria Of The Khushi Scheme

Interested individuals first need to ensure whether they fit the eligibility criteria of the scheme or not. The eligibility criteria of the Khushi Yojana are as follows:

• Applicant must be a resident of the state of Odisha.

• Girls must be between the standards of 6th to 12th.

Application Process Of The Khushi Scheme

No strict application process is required to benefit from the Khushi Yojana. All the girls between the standards of 6th to 12th studying in Sarkari schools will receive free sanitary napkins from the ASHA workers who visit their schools.

Other women can purchase sanitary napkins at a subsidised price of Rs. 1 per napkin from the nearest Community Health Centre (CHC).

Required Documents

Applicants may need to submit some supporting documents to avail of the benefits of the Khushi Yojana. This list of documents are listed below for one’s reference:

• Aadhaar card
• School ID
• Proof of residence

Conclusion

The Khushi Yojana by the state government of Odisha is a step in the right direction as it not only aims to deliver resources but also to eradicate the roots of the taboo associated with menstruation and menstrual hygiene.

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