Tribal Women Protest in Maharashtra Seeking Free Sanitary Pads Through Ration Shops

Mumbai: Hundreds of tribal women staged protests in Maharashtra demanding the free distribution of sanitary pads through ration shops and anganwadi centres.

Women from several villages marched to the tehsil offices in Thane and Palghar to press their demands. A memorandum outlining their concerns was also submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The protesters mainly demanded that women from poor, tribal and Katkari communities be provided with at least 12 sanitary napkins every month. They also called for a special welfare scheme for women holding Antyodaya and priority ration cards.

Activists said that most women in Thane and Palghar districts work as daily wage labourers and severe poverty prevents them from purchasing sanitary pads regularly. This, they said, forced them to take to the streets to highlight the issue.

Protesters warned that many women are compelled to use unhygienic cloth instead of sanitary pads, increasing the risk of infections and reproductive health problems. They urged the government to address women’s basic health needs through the public distribution system and introduce measures to improve healthcare access for marginalised communities.