Surat (Gujarat): Five years before Bollywood flick 'Pad Man' made waves in the country, Meena Mehta – otherwise known as 'Pad Dadi' – has been distributing free sanitary napkins to the underprivileged girls in Surat.
Every month she distributes 5,000 sanitary napkins to the girls studying in various government schools. Yet, this laudable service could have gone unnoticed had Prime Minister Narendra Modi not mentioned in his widely hailed radio programme 'Maan Ki Baat'.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi through #SheInspiresUs campaign revealed the identity of influential Meena Mehta.
Mehta has been distributing sanitary napkins free of cost every month to girls studying in various government schools, PM Modi said.
Mehta has been instrumental in encouraging personal hygiene among underprivileged girls by distributing free sanitary napkins.
Along with her husband Atul Mehta, she has been visiting government-aided schools for the noble cause. Till date, she has distributed 4,00,000 'magical kits' to girls.
Sharing her challenging journey with ETV Bharat, Mehta said, “It all started when I saw a girl picking up a discarded sanitary napkin from a dustbin. When I talked to her, she said that she could not afford to buy a new sanitary pad, so she would wash the used one and reuse it. Moved by this incident, I decided to distribute free sanitary pads to the needy girls, which I have been doing since for the last seven years (2013).”
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Mehta went on to add: ''I also intend to create personal hygiene through this initiative. Meena's ‘Magic Kit’ includes an undergarment, some pouches of shampoo and soap which costs Rs 60. Besides, I educate girls about hygiene and disposal of used sanitary napkins and insist that every girl should take a pledge that they will maintain hygiene.”
Recounting the journey, Mehta said, “Initially, my husband Atul Mehta gave me Rs 25,000 to buy sanitary pads for poor girls. We faced a lot of difficulties, but we chose not to give up. Now, after PM Modi has recognised our work, I hope others would be inspired to undertake similar social work.”
The Mehtas have been doing this nobel work under the banner of Manuni Trust founded by them. Acknowledging their work, actor Akshay Kumar has donated Rs 5,00,000 to their trust.
