OIL launches community-based sanitary napkin production and marketing unit

TINSUKIA/DIBRUGARH: Oil India Limited under CSR launched 'OIL Shakti', a community-based sanitary napkin production and marketing unit at Hijuguri, Tinsukia district recently.

The unit was inaugurated was launched by Dilip Kr. Bhuyan, CGM-PA, OIL, along with Tridiv Hazarika, DGM-CSR & CC, OIL, and Nayana Madhu Dutta, Senior Manager-CSR, OIL, in the presence of Schoolnet India Zonal Head Nivedita Barthakur, staff, fieldworkers and SAATHIYA club members.

For carrying out mass awareness against the stigma associated with menstruation, a comic book based on scientific facts in Assamese language was also released which will be distributed at the schools, colleges and community level. The unit will be managed by a large network of rural women for promotion of menstrual health and hygiene management amongst the vulnerable communities such as adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and rural women in the reproductive age-group as well as men under Project OIL Arogya for reduction of IMR and MMR in OIL's operational areas of Upper Assam.

The word shakti meaning sacred force or empowerment, signifies the fact that menstrual health and hygiene (H&H) is at the core of women empowerment, equity and rights. OIL Shakti is expected to create the outcome of an ecosystem of overarching knowledge and necessity of menstrual H&H, awareness of both the genders, affordability, availability of informed choices while also laying a thrust on enhancement of livelihood opportunities.

OIL Shakti will endeavour to act upon the issues of (a) access and disposal (b) limited awareness and (c) social stigma surrounding menstrual H&H. In order to forge a way forward, the unit will be a community model for meeting local demands affordably with the economic viability of creating livelihood and financial opportunities across the value chain. The community model will look at an affordable product. local production, community distribution, mass awareness on behavior change communication and production of environment friendly and biodegradable sanitary napkins.