Stitching gaps of menstrual hygiene through Project Uday of Enactus Team, PU

Chandigarh: The Enactus team of Panjab University in an initiative to help rural women in menstrual hygiene management, under their Project Uday has ventured into making cotton/bamboo fabric based reusable sanitary napkins, which are not only good for the body but also good for the earth, informed Prof. Seema Kapoor, Faculty Advisor of Enactus team and Coordinator of Social Review Committee of Dr.SSB University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology. This project is going to help the underprivileged women community to become economically independent as well as play an important role in improving the menstrual hygiene of the underprivileged women, she added.

The Enactus team is working in collaboration with Developing Indigenous Resources-India (DIR), an NGO that engages in efforts to enable underprivileged women to generate income through the provisions of training, equipment and micro credit. Dr. Asha Katoch, CEO of DIR said that “By working hand in hand with Enactus team we can for sure contribute to make this world a better place for the underprivileged women”.

Enactus team has also collaborated with CSR Project Amodini of Versatile Enterprises Private Limited, which is at the forefront in the development of original innovative fabrics. The special fabrics for cloth based sanitary napkins are being provided by this esteemd group of companies. Mr. Arun Seth, MD of the company along with Mr. Akhil Seth and Ms. Geetanjali Seth are helping in all possible ways to make this project a great success.

Further to smoothen the production of sanitary napkins, Dr. Anu H. Gupta, Faculty of University Institute of Fashion Technology, P.U. has been roped in for teaching seamless stitching to the community women under the project Uday.

Further, with the collaborative efforts of Enactus team and Versatile Group, Mrs. Usha Gupta, Director, Concorde Knitwears Pvt. Ltd, Ludhiana has sponsored USHA Sewing Machine (Model-8801E) worth Rs.25000/- and Shiv Textiles, Ludhiana has sponsored USHA Sewing Machine (Model-Allure Deluxe) worth Rs. 15000/- to the community for making the community well equipped with the latest technology for making the sanitary napkins.

Today, to celebrate International Women’s Week, Enactus team organized an event along with Social Review Committee of Dr.SSBUICET, during which, two Sewing Machines were handed over to the community by Prof. S.K Tomar, Dean Student Welfare, P.U. and Prof. Sukhbir Kaur, Dean Student Welfare (Women). Others who graced the occasion included Dr.Anu H. Gupta, Dr. Baljinder Kaur, Mr. Jodh Singh, DSW staff and DIR staff.

Commending the initiatives of the Enactus team, Prof. Tomar said that Enactus team is doing great work in helping the underprivileged women and time and again the team has brought laurels to the university by bagging various awards and grants. He congratulated the team for working towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, the vision of Honourable Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, which aims to make the country and its citizens independent and self-reliant in all senses. 

Further recalling the past achievements of the team, Prof. Sukhbir Kaur added that Enactus team has time and again proved its mettle at both National and International levels. She said she is feeling very gratified that Enactus team has taken this brilliant initiative of making cloth based sanitary napkins.

Highlighting the importance of even the smallest steps, Akshat, President of Enactus team, Aarushi Ray, ex-vice president of Enactus team and other team members namely Javed, Mohit, Nandini, Sanya, Leeza and Abhinav said “We alone cannot change the world but we believe in casting stones into water to create ripples and we believe in taking small steps that lead to a larger impact.”