The 20-year-old woman who was mocked by a senior bureaucrat with a caustic “ask for condoms next” when she petitioned a senior bureaucrat for free sanitary napkins in schools has been offered a year’s worth of free supplies by a manufacturer.
Source- ANI
At a workshop organized by the Bihar Government in collaboration with UNICEF on September 27, a senior IAS Officer, Harjot Kaur Bhamra, gave out several controversial comments that triggered a huge backlash against her.
She went on display her utter lack of insensitivity adding, “Tomorrow you will say the government can give jeans pants too. And after that why not some beautiful shoes? Eventually, when it comes to family planning you will expect the government to give you family planning methods and condoms too. Why is there a need to take everything for free?”
The girl’s question prompted applause, and seemingly irked Bhamra, who is the managing director of Bihar’s Women Development Corporation.
Sanitary pad manufacturing company PAN Healthcare said more girls should demand open discussions about period bleeding and applauded the woman’s courage to spotlight the subject on a public platform.
“Menstrual hygiene has been considered a taboo subject discussed in hushed voices for generations. This must change. We need many more girls to come forward and boldly demand open discussions about period bleeding. We salute Riya’s courage to speak up on this subject on a public platform with confidence,” Chirag Pan, CEO of PAN Healthcare told ANI.
Source- Indian Express
Taken aback by the response, the girl conveyed that the government was elected by the people, and it is the government’s obligation to consider their needs and demands. However, the exchange kept getting controversial, and it led to a backlash against the officer for her take on women’s health.
Soon after the incident had come to the notice of the National Commission for Women (NCW), they took cognizance of the matter and said that such an “insensitive attitude” from the officer is condemnable and “shameful”. Seeking a written explanation from Bhamra, the NCW assured that she would be held accountable for her statements and actions.
On Thursday, Bhamra apologized for her statement, saying she did not “intend to humiliate anyone or hurt anyone’s sentiments”. The 1992 batch IAS officer added that the workshop was organized to create awareness among “adolescent girls about the government provisions for them.”
“We wanted to motivate them to become self-dependent and confident enough to take their own decisions about life and career. It was during this discussion I asked girls to stop asking things for free,” Bhamra said in a statement, stressing that her “intentions were not wrong”.
