Giving fillip to hygiene: Parmeshwari Chadurupally

Parmeshwari Chadurupally started an NGO, Society for Helping Integrity Network for Empowerment (SHINE) to better the lives of marginalised women. Parmeshwari works towards empowering women by helping them find livelihoods, giving better education to their children and improve their sense of well-being. In February, the Union Government has bestowed her with Sri Swabhiman Excellency Award for inventing eco-friendly and cheap sanitary pads ‘SHINE ULTRA’.

Parmeshwari, who hails from Saroornagar, Hyderabad, says that idea behind inventing SHINE ULTRA pads was to provide poor women and girls with cheaper and safe sanitary pads. She said that she understands the need for hygiene among women especially young girls in menstrual period.

As the price of sanitary pads is high most women from marginalised sectors do not use them and risk their health. In this regard, she started a programme ‘Project Raksha’. Under this initiative, the common service centres of the NGO educate girls and women about personal hygiene in menstrual days.

“Every seven minutes one Indian woman is affected by cervical cancer. In India, 49 per cent school-going girls in rural areas skip schools during the menstrual period because they can’t afford sanitary pads and lack of proper education about menstrual hygiene is the main reason for the increase in cervical cancer cases in India.”

“To give a boost to personal hygiene during the menstrual period I decided to make bio-degradable and cheaper sanitary pads and we made ‘SHINE ULTRA’ pads. These are manufactured by rural women and are distributed free of cost in government schools and in slums. I feel very happy that the Central Government recognised our work and honoured us with Swabhiman Excellence Award and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who gave the award congratulated us for the yeomen service,” she adds.

About founding NGO, Parmeshwari informs that at the age of 12 her father passed away and as being the eldest in the family she had to take care of her three sisters and a mentally-challenged brother. Her mother used to work as a janitor in a hospital and her earnings were not sufficient to make the ends meet. “I completed my studies with great difficulty and I wanted to support my mother so I took various jobs while studying. I learnt courses such as tailoring, beautician, etc to make some money while pursuing my education. In 2009 I got married and started a beauty parlour.

As I come from a very humble background I know the difficulties faced by women who live in poverty and I decided to empower them with skills rather than giving alms. I started to train a few women at my parlour and now they are working in good positions in various organisations and to spread the work I started the NGO about four years back,” she shares.

The NGO trains women in vocational courses such as tailoring, beautician, mat making, jute bags making, artificial jewellery making and basic computer course.

“Till now we have given training to 8,000 women in various vocational courses. Many of our students are now working in different international companies. I feel very happy that these women who were in confines of their home are now able to stand up on their own feet and are financially independent. I want that all women and girls in rural areas should have access to sanitary pads and we are working towards that goal,” Parmeshwari concludes.