Odisha woman earns ‘Pad Girl’ Title For Her Initiative towards Menstrual Hygiene

An Odisha woman has been accorded the ‘Pad Girl’ title for making sanitary pads and spreading awareness on Menstrual Hygiene among local women.

Baisakhi Jena, a residence of Jajpur, is creating history with her initiative on women’s health and hygiene. A few years ago, the MMC in Biotech graduate from Vellore University, got well-settled with a job in Bangalore. However, during the Covid pandemic, she left her job and returned home with hopes of doing something better for her hometown.

The highly educated girl, Baisakhi started sanitary pad business to make sure there is no scarcity of menstrual pads for females in the village. Apart from providing feminine napkins at low cost, she also ensured to spread awareness of Period Hygiene among the young girls and women in the village.

“My motive was always to start my own business. However, I did not want it to be a normal one. Therefore, I started a business with the purpose to empower women and focus on women’s health, and menstrual hygiene. People in our area are not that open to talks on period-related problems, neither the girls even freely discuss it among themselves,” said Baisakhi in a statements to our reporters.

“Everyone knows if proper hygiene is not maintained then what problems can menstruation cause. Hence, I wanted to spread awareness on this matter. Women being the backbone of our society need to be well educated on issues related to menstruation and related topics, ” she further added.

“My this attempt is just a small step taken towards a bigger initiative on women’s health and hygiene” Baisakhi added while speaking about her business.

The 27-year-old has not only made herself self-dependent but also formed a self-help group and has provided jobs to many women like her. More than 10 women work for her currently, making sure each product is detailed and prepared under utter cleanliness. They take care of everything, from packaging to delivery.

Baisakhi is the daughter of Chandikhole’s known sports teacher Basudev Jena and Bijayalakhmi Jena. Her family lauds and supports their daughter in her decision.

Working for such a sensational cause has made Baisakhi stand out of the ordinary. Some also relate her journey with Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social entrepreneur on whom Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar’s movie PadMan was filmed.