File photo of a sanitary napkin vending machine. Image used for representational purposes
| Photo Credit: M. Periasamy

The Madras High Court has decided to initiate suo motu contempt of court proceedings against the Tamil Nadu government for reportedly not complying with a direction issued by it on November 25, 2016, to install sanitary napkin vending machines in government high and higher secondary schools to ensure the menstrual hygiene of girl students.

Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) D. Krishnakumar directed the High Court Registry to number the suo motu contempt petition and list it for hearing on September 12, 2024, by when Additional Advocate General R. Neelakandan was directed to obtain instructions from the Social Welfare and School Education departments on the status of the vending machines.

The ACJ took note of a news report that some of those machines were lying idle and therefore, wanted to know whether the court order was being implemented in letter and spirit. The 2016 order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justices S. Nagamuthu (since retired) and Justice Krishnakumar on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition.

The PIL petition

The PIL petition had been filed by the Women Advocates Association (WAA) at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. The association general secretary J. Anandhavalli had sought a direction to the State government to install sanitary napkin vending machines as well as incinerators in all government schools.

Disposing of the PIL petition, the Division Bench had issued a slew of directions, which included the construction and maintenance of toilets in all government schools. The Bench had warned the Chief Educational Officers and District Educational Officers of contempt proceedings if it was found that the toilets were not maintained properly.

Making it clear that the students should not be asked to clean toilets at any cost, the Bench had ordered the appointment of enough number of sanitation workers too, either on a permanent basis or through outsourcing, in all government schools, depending on the student strength. It ordered that there should be at least one sanitation worker for each school.

“Wherever possible, napkin vending machines shall be installed in all government girls and co-education high schools and higher secondary schools and wherever it is not possible, the teachers (women) shall supply the same to the girl students. The quality of the napkins should be ensured. This order shall be implemented immediately,” the Division Bench had said.

Further, the Bench had ordered the construction of at least one masonry choola (an alternative to incinerators) in all government girls as well a co-educational high and higher secondary schools for the safe disposal of the used sanitary napkins. The construction must be carried out by the end of the academic year 2016-17, it had said, while issuing a direction for the appointment of night watchmen too.

The judges had wanted the government to appoint at least one night watchman in every government high and higher secondary school from June 2017 and had ordered the construction of compound walls for all those schools in a phased manner. They had also wanted steps to be taken to fill up the vacancies of headmaster/headmistress in the schools.