Bengaluru: Minister for Health and Family Welfare K R Ramesh Kumar on Monday admitted in the Legislative Council that Shuchi, a programme to distribute free sanitary napkins to adolescent girls between 10 to 16 years, was affected due to the lack of sufficient funds.Replying to the BJP MLC Ramachandre Gowda, the health minister said that the programme was approved in the State Budget 2013-14 and was taken up under the Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health programme (ARSH).
Though the programme requires Rs. 97.22 crore per year (to distribute sanitary napkins to 36.59 lakh adolescent girls for 12 months), the available budgetary allocation is only Rs. 48.26 crore.
“It is because of this that we are able to provide napkins only for five months in a year. However, the government is not ready to take publicity by partially implementing the programme and will make every effort to implement the scheme in letter and spirit from the next financial year,” the minister said.
He added that the additional budgetary requirement of Rs. 48.96 crore would be compensated through the National Health Mission (NHM).
.