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The Observer An IIJNM publication
Commercial Street’s vendors suffer losses owing to never-ending construction work | P 2
Vol. 21, Issue 4
By Saumyangi Yadav
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The disabled can’t access toilets at B’luru rly stations By Swarali Bodas
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ashrooms for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) aren’t usable at many railway stations in Bengaluru city. "Washrooms for PwDs are closed due to renovation in the general waiting area. All three (waiting areas) were locked due to Covid. Now we have opened the ladies and general waiting area, ’’ said Saurabh Jain, Nodal Officer, Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station. The Observer saw the Cantonment railway station has only one divyang washroom in the general waiting area, but it does not have any ramp or Braille signage. ►Continued on page 2
Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in
Many credit-oriented fintechs in the city, but access to formal lending is still a pipe dream | P 3
State govt has reduced budget by Rs 2 cr, but No. of beneficiaries has gone up
Roughly 36% of Indian women use sanitary pads | Credit: Apeksha Priya them from the medical store which is very expensive.” Tanu, another 15-year-old girl at a government school said: “In an average month, I use a minimum of 12 to 15 sanitary napkins.” Rashmi M, a teacher in a government high school in Malleswaram said: “Previously, the sanitary napkins we used to get were not enough in number. Even the quality of the pads was poor. Both the quantity and the quality of the pads should be improved.” Since many of the girls in school have
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Thursday, October 7, 2021
10 pads under Shuchi scheme are just not enough, say girls he Karnataka government has decided to re-implement the Shuchi scheme in the financial year 2021-22, but with a reduced budget, the adequacy of this scheme is still in question. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 47 crore for the scheme. Before the scheme came to a halt in 2020, the budget used to be Rs 49 crore a year. Under the scheme, every month, the government distributes 10 pads per adolescent girl in all government schools. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), recommends using a minimum of three to four sanitary napkins per day. The average menstrual cycle length being 4-7 days long, ten pads are usually not enough. Mahalakshmi, a class 10 student at a government school in Malleswaram, informed The Observer: “On an average, I use at least 15 pads in every cycle. Since we have not been getting any pads from the government for the past two years, we need to buy
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just hit puberty, it is even harder for them to manage with a limited number of pads, she added. Ranjita R, another 15-year-old student, said: “I use two pads a day, so 10 to 15 pads are usually sufficient for me.” However, the ACOG recommends that changing pads at least every 4 to 8 hours. Poor menstrual hygiene can lead to several health issues. Dr Ragini Agarwal, gynecologist, explains: “Using a single pad for more than 6 to 8 hours can cause serious health problems
like urinary tract infection and pelvic inflammatory diseases. It can also lead to vaginal yeast infection or cervical cancer.” While the budget allocated for the scheme has been decreased by Rs 2 crore, the number of beneficiaries has increased. The Observer had previously reported that the Shuchi scheme covers 17 lakh school and college girls. Dr Veena V, the deputy director of the Shuchi scheme and Rashtray Bharat Swarthy Yojana, told The Observer that the number of beneficiaries of the scheme has increased to 19.29 lakh. “We have started the implementation already. Hopefully, we will begin the distribution of the pads by the end of November this year.” The findings of the National Family Health Survey-4 had shown that roughly 36 per cent of Indian women use sanitary pads. Menstrual hygiene products are still a luxury for many women in India. More than half of women in India are vulnerable to serious health problems that arise from poor menstrual hygiene. saumyangi.y@iijnm.org
News briefs Active Covid-19 cases in country lowest in 204 days
With 22,431 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 3.38 crore, while the active cases declined to 2.4 lakh, the lowest in 204 days, according to Union Health Ministry data. The death toll climbed to 4.5 lakh with 318 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
‘Mastermind’ of the 2019 Easter bombings indicted
Sri Lankan prosecutors on Monday indicted the alleged mastermind of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings along with 24 men they say were co-conspirators in the island's worst single terror attack. Mohamed Naufar has been accused of being the mastermind of the deadly suicide bombings and of being a member of the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Mamata Banerjee and two other MLAs take oath West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as a member of the state assembly by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. Trinamool members Jakir Hossain and Amirul Islam also took oath soon afterwards. Banerjee won the Bhowanipore by-poll with a record margin of 58,835 votes.
Women in urban Karnataka are more prone to obesity than their rural counterparts By Simran Sharma
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besity is more prevalent in women living in Urban Karnataka as compared to women living in rural areas, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) that was conducted in 2019-20.
NFHS finding NFHS data of the past three surveys show there is an increase in the number of women suffering from obesity in Karnataka. About 11.8 per cent of women in urban regions of the state suffer from obesity; in rural areas, the percentage is 6.3, according to the 2019-20 survey. Bengaluru Urban district had 40.1 per cent of women suffering from obesity
and 33.2 per cent women in rural districts suffering from the same. The number of obese women has increased in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts by 8 per cent and 8.7 per cent from the year
2015-16 to the year 2019-20. Dr Srividya Arvind Iyer, a senior health associate, informed The Observer: “Obesity is caused mainly because of family history, sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary
habits, eating disorders, and other medical conditions. Around 20-25 women come in a month suffering from the same problem. Urban women are more affected because of little physical activity, sedentary jobs, and stress.” A high carb and fat diet with little protein and fibre causes obesity. Sanskriti Singh, a graduate from St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, said: “I have a body mass index (BMI) above 30. I have a sedentary lifestyle which further adds to the problem.” She was diagnosed with PCOS at age 16. Since then, she has faced a lot of instances of body shaming. “I have tried gyming 4 to 5 times but never really lost weight....It is easy to gain weight but it is very difficult to lose it,’’ she added. ►Continued on page 3