Niine Sanitary Napkins ties up with IIM-Lucknow

15 colleges from across India have been shortlisted for the street play finals at Manfest-Varchasva 2018

Niine Sanitary Napkins has joined hands with one of the top most MBA colleges in India to drive awareness about the menstrual hygiene in India. IIM-Lucknow’s annual business, cultural and sports fest Manfest-Varchasva 2018 hosts street plays to help bridge the gap between 18 per cent women who have access to hygienic menstrual aid and 82 per cent women who resort to potentially hazardous alternatives like old cloths, rags, hay and even ash.

15 colleges from across India have been shortlisted for the street play finals at Manfest-Varchasva 2018. Among the participants are teams from top MBA colleges such as IIT Kanpur, University of Lucknow, Isabella Thoburn and MDI Gurgaon, who will come together to discuss the need for better menstrual hygiene awareness and address the taboos surrounding the subject of menstruation in the rural areas of Lucknow through innovative street plays.

The statistics show that a staggering 71 per cent of adolescent girls have no knowledge of menstruation before their first period. This initiative aims to educate the rural population of Mubarakpur, Narharpur, Alinagar and Muddakipur among other villages on the outdated stigma associated with menstruation and its toll on the menstrual health of women, often leading to infections and other severe health issues.

With so many teams taking part, every village will witness up to five plays. In addition to raising awareness, the team will also be distributing Niine Sanitary napkins and conducting workshops for the rural audiences. The event highlights how students are taking it upon themselves to step up and spread the menstrual hygiene awareness message.

Niine Sanitary Napkins aims to transcend geographical boundaries by taking this initiative into a digital space through featuring the top three videos on their social media pages. A lucky draw will also be organised for everyone that likes Niine’s Facebook page. Niine’s dedication to engaging the best young minds and using innovative ways to spread the menstrual hygiene awareness message highlights Niine’s commitment to social responsibility and raising awareness.

Richa Singh, CEO, Niine Sanitary Napkins, will address over 300 students of IIM- Lucknow to share deep insights and valuable lessons on working with start-ups and the way forward after MBA. Speaking about this collaboration, she said, “We are delighted to join hands with the students of IIM-Lucknow and sincerely hope that this association will make a difference in the current menstrual hygiene awareness in the state.”

The Niine Movement, a Niine Sanitary Napkins initiative has partnered with the college to develop insights to find solutions for cloth to napkin conversion. Through an extensive five-year plan, Niine aims to penetrate into the rural market with their premium-quality and affordable products, manufactured at their Gorakhpur plants with state-of-the-art technology. The movement has also partnered with various government initiatives and prestigious organisations like JCI, Rotary club and FOGSI to tackle the taboo around menstrual hygiene and improve the fundamental lack of education or discussion around the subject.

Amar Tulsiyan, Founder, Niine Sanitary Napkins, added, “It’s refreshing to see youngsters coming together to change the world for better. A handful of individuals can initiate a dialogue but a change will be brought about only through a sustained effort by the nation. This initiative will ensure that we reach all strata of the society and urge people to take this up seriously. Hopefully, this will be instrumental in changing the mind-set of men hailing from rural India, who do not acknowledge these issues, often resulting in women suffering silently. This is a significant step in our journey to normalise periods as a part of a girl’s life and change the pre-conceived notion of it being ‘impure’ or ‘dirty’. We believe this will play a major role in the empowerment of women in India.”