Pinkishe Foundation
25/10/2026
Medically reviewed by
Period poverty means a girl or woman cannot manage her period safely and with dignity. She may lack products, a usable toilet, water, a safe way to throw away used pads, or correct information. Because the problem has many parts, the answer has many parts too. No single pad, machine or law solves it alone.
Here are the kinds of solutions that have made a difference, in India and elsewhere, and what each one needs to work well.
When products are free at school, a girl does not have to stay home because she has nothing to use. In India, this is now a legal direction.
On 30 January 2026, in Dr Jaya Thakur v Government of India, the Supreme Court held that menstrual health is part of the right to life under Article 21. It gave directions for classes 6 to 12 on free products, vending machines, safe disposal, education, teacher training and annual inspection. In an order of 1 September 2026, the Court set the standard as compostable products meeting ISO 17088 read with IS 5405, and directed states towards reusable cups, period panties and reusable napkins.
Free products help most when the stock never runs out, and when girls can take what they need privately, without having to ask in front of others.
Scotland passed a law in 2020 making period products free for anyone who needs them, in force from 2022. The idea is simple: no one should have to choose between food and pads.
Price matters. In India, the Ministry of Health began its Menstrual Hygiene Scheme in 2011 to help adolescent girls get low-cost sanitary napkins. In July 2018, sanitary napkins were made free of GST. Lower prices help most when products are also easy to find, close to home.
In many parts of India, small local units make sanitary pads with simple machines and sell them nearby, often run by women's self-help groups. This can bring prices down, put products within walking distance, and give women an income.
To work well, local units need quality checks, a steady supply of raw material, and a plan for safe disposal of the pads they sell.
Cloth pads, menstrual cups and period panties can be used again and again. They cost more at first, but last a long time and create much less waste. In its order of 1 September 2026, the Supreme Court directed states towards reusable cups, period panties and reusable napkins.
Reusable products need a little care. Cloth is safe when it is washed with soap and dried fully in sunlight. A cup should be emptied at least every 12 hours and boiled at the end of each period. So reusable products work best where girls have water, soap, privacy and a sunny place to dry them. Every girl and woman should be free to choose what suits her. To compare the options, read which period product is right for you.
Products alone are not enough if a girl is frightened of her own body. 1 in 2 girls knew nothing about periods before their first (BMJ Open review of Indian studies, 2016).
Good menstrual education starts before the first period. It explains what a period is, how to use and change products, how to track the cycle, and when to see a doctor. It includes boys, so that girls are not teased. And it trains teachers, which the Supreme Court has now directed for classes 6 to 12. A simple tool like our period and ovulation calculator helps a girl know when to expect her next period.
A girl cannot change a pad without a private place to do it. 97.3% of India's schools have a girls' toilet (UDISE+ 2024-25). But in 28% of rural government schools, surveyors found no usable girls' toilet, and 22% had no drinking water (ASER 2024).
A usable toilet has a door that locks, water, soap, a light and a covered bin. Building it is the first step. Keeping it clean and working every day is the second.
Used products need somewhere to go. Bins in every girls' toilet, collection as sanitary waste kept separate from wet and dry waste, and products that do less harm all help. The Supreme Court has set the standard as compostable products meeting ISO 17088 read with IS 5405.
Each solution depends on the others. A free pad does not help if there is no toilet to change in. A new toilet does not help if there is no bin. A cup does not help if no one has explained how to use it. The Supreme Court's directions bring these pieces together: products, vending machines, disposal, education, teacher training and annual checks.
The most useful thing any of us can do is look at the whole picture for one girl: can she get a product, change it in private, throw it away safely, and understand what her body is doing? If the answer to all four is yes, she has what she needs to manage her period with dignity.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
Have a question about periods or period products? Call our menstrual helpline on 85888 70999. It answers at any hour.
A simple printable sheet that marks your period days, your fertile window and your ovulation day. We will email it to you now.
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Prefer to work out your dates now? Open the free ovulation calculatorThere is no single one. Products, usable toilets, water, safe disposal and education work best together. Each one helps less on its own.
No. Sanitary napkins were made free of GST in July 2018.
Scotland passed a law in 2020 making period products free for anyone who needs them, in force from 2022.
Yes, with care. Cloth is safe when washed with soap and dried fully in sunlight. A menstrual cup should be emptied at least every 12 hours and boiled at the end of each period.
On 30 January 2026, the Supreme Court held that menstrual health is part of the right to life. For classes 6 to 12, it directed free products, vending machines, safe disposal, education, teacher training and annual inspection.
Talk openly about periods, make sure the girls you know have products and information, ask your local school about its toilets and bins, and support work in schools and communities.
Period poverty has many parts, so the solutions do too: free and low-cost products, reusable choices, education for girls and boys, usable toilets with water, and safe disposal. India and Scotland show what laws and schemes can do. The best results come when all the pieces are in place for each girl.
Pinkishe Foundation is a specialist implementation organisation for menstrual health. We deliver, reliably, in schools and communities across India. Support our work with a donation.
₹1,100 gives one girl a year. Donations are eligible for deduction under Section 80G.
