Meet Jeevan Jyot, city’s Padwoman

Divya Sharma

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 29

Meet Jeevan Jyot, the holy city’s Padwoman, who is creating awareness among women about the harmful effects of the sanitary pads made of plastic. She is the chairperson of the S.H.E Society which provides reusable sanitary pads to women.

It all started a year ago, when as part of a humanitarian work carried out by her society, she came across women living in slums using unhygienic and harmful methods during their menstrual days. The thought of possible adverse repercussions on their health gave birth to her initiative, EcoShe project. Through her project, she is providing ECOShe Saafkin pads made from living guard technology.

Jyot has tied up with a Swiss-based company to provide her these reusable pads. She is distributing them to women free of cost through a self-financed model created by her. She is also visiting various government and private schools, slum areas and rural areas to promote the idea of eco-friendly EcoSheSaafkin pads. During her visits, she also educates women about alternative methods such as tampons, menstrual cups and cotton cloths.

“The ones which are available in markets are made of plastic which is hygienically dangerous in long run. I also have a team of doctors with me vouching for the same. Moreover, there is no commercial motive behind this step, it is just to ensure that women are adopting correct methods,” said Jyot, a post graduate in English and a mother of two.

“We are a self-financed group. I have about 50 brand ambassadors worldwide. We can finance the requirement of sanitary pads. For instance, one just needs to pay Rs 200 to finance a single girl for a year. Rest there are many people helping us,” she added.

“These permanent disinfected sanitary pads have to be washed by soap and can be worn without undergarments. I happen to visit a few parts of India where women still don’t have access to undergarments. These can be worn as adjustable elastic is attached to these pads,” said Jyot.

She came across women using sand stuffed in piece of cloth, cotton balls among others during their menstrual period. At present, this padwoman of Amritsar wants more and more people to take the issue seriously, she is visiting schools, meeting young girls, mothers and informing them about the harmful affects of Sanitary pads made of plastic.