News Desk, News Nation 360 : In collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Turnstone Global, a widely recognised non-profit organisation, launched "Project Roshni" in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. This project aims to empower women by raising awareness of gender-based health, hygiene, and livelihood generation issues. The project's numerous objectives included raising awareness of menstrual hygiene among women and girls living in rural Hooghly villages and lowering the risk of various illnesses associated with improper menstrual practices, especially cervical cancer. Additionally, the project has been a shining example of women's economic independence and empowerment. In the end, Turnstone Global was able to establish 13 SHG groups that produce sanitary napkins under the Gunjan brand, train over 260 women and install
sanitary napkin manufacturing equipment in the district. In addition to selling the napkins to individuals and other NGOs that promote menstrual hygiene, Turnstone Global is currently assisting women and girls in marketing the brand. Turnstone Global has managed to increase each SHG group member's monthly income from Rs 500 to Rs 2500. Turnstone Global also carried out a baseline survey in 2023 among 1020 village women and girls at Chanditala Block in the Hooghly district as part of Project Roshni. The research was carried out in 11 villages across 5 Gramme Panchayats in the Chanditala II block of the Hooghly district, which is located in a rural region of West Bengal. The villages in each Gramme Panchayat that participated in the survey are Beledanga, Khanpur, Thero, Bamandanga, Kalachara, Gokulpur, Janai, Baksa, Madhabpur, Khoragori, and Garalgacha. The goal of the intervention is to inform and empower the community about the seriousness of menstrual hygiene problems and the solutions available. The empowerment of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to produce inexpensive sanitary napkins not only serves as a means of generating income but also provides the rural community with access to sanitary napkins at a very low and affordable price.
Pic - Courtesy
