A primary school teacher in Bareilly, UP has made it her business to step out of her classroom and help the women in the village understand the importance of menstrual hygiene.

Menstrual hygiene and reproductive health, issues usually talked about in whispers, are now being openly discussed in the rural pockets of Rajasthan. Kishor Mitra, friends of adolescents, who were once victims of social exclusion have scripted this change.

Kalpana who runs a ‘sanitary pad depot’ in Mirtala village, Uttar Pradesh, has become a confidante of the young girls there who are now able to freely discuss menstruation and personal hygiene issues with her without any hesitation. For the past three years, she has been selling sanitary pads at a cheaper cost to village women.

While people living in cities have an option to choose from a range of sanitary napkins available in markets and they even have an option to choose among pads, menstrual cups and tampons, but women living in villages don't even know what pads are.

At Parijat Academy, a school in Pamohi village near Guwahati, first generation learners receive free education and learn various skills. Making sanitary pads is a part of the curriculum.