As a pilot project, sanitary pad burning machines in the prisons have been installed.
In an initiative by the Maharashtra State Women's Commission, nine Maharashtra prisons have been installed with new sanitary pad vending machines. The facility, which will benefit 1,023 women prisoners, is available at the prisons in Yerawada, Thane, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Amravati, Kalyan, Byculla and Chandrapur.
The step came following the custodial death of an inmate in Mumbai's Byculla prison. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to inquire into the death and make a report on the facilities provided to the inmates in various jails of the state, in terms of food, nutrition and security.
The report from the investigation team led to the decision of installing sanitary pad vending machines in nine jails in the state. As a pilot project, the commission also decided to install burning machines in the prisons so that women inmates could dispose off used pads easily.
Maharashtra State Women's Commission said that after installation of sanitary vending and burning machines, jail authorities will bear the cost of the maintenance. The jail authorities can decide on giving the pads at a nominal cost or for free to the inmates.
The commission has initially started vending machines with 50 pads each, after which prison authorities may engage a contractor for the supply of pads and maintenance of the machines according to the prison size and requirements.