India CSR News Network
CHENNAI: R Kamala’s last visit to Chennai started off on an embarrassing note. After alighting at Chennai Central railway station, she could neither find a shop to buy nor a facility to dispose off sanitary pads.
But passengers will no longer have to face the ordeal as Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), an organization of Indian Railways that does engineering work, has installed an electronic sanitary napkin vending machine and a destroyer at the station.
Developed by an IIT-Madras alumnus, the sanitary napkin incinerator can burn soiled pads in to ashes within few minutes. The waste can either be used as a manure for plants or can be flushed out.
Setup along with information boards, the idea was also to break the taboo and raise awareness on menstrual health. The machines have been installed along with token and coin vending machines as part of CSR activity of RVNL.
V Ramachandran, an electronic engineer, who designed and developed the machine said, “the incinerator emits marginal fumes. It has an electrical heating system to burn the pads, after the removal of outer plastic layer. The ash can either be used as a manure or be flushed out. Women passengers can collect a plastic bag to dispose used pads and hand it over to staff. We have installed two vending machines at the station, one with a capacity of storing 120 pads and the other with 20”.
Station manager V Umashankar said, “We installed the machines as many passengers try to flush used pads in the commode leading to blockage. ”
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V Ramachandran said India CSR, “We have our own in-house R&D Centre. Our R&D wing develops new custom products based on specifications and requirements at both domestic and international levels. A continuous on-going research is thus being done on product development and modifications”
“We also keep ourselves abreast with the latest developments in technology in medical and vending automation and upgrade our equipment to meet international standards.” , he added.
According to a scientific study when a used sanitary pad is exposed to air it develops 100000 bacterias in a mere four seconds. This amply justifies the seriousness of disposing a sanitary pad in a most hygienic way and the only method is by burning the sanitary pads into sterile ash which is then flushed.
The used sanitary pad is never to be buried in pits as it will pollute the ground water.
Women are prone to reproductive track diseases and nearly 50% of women in the country suffer from such diseases. Infections spread fast when there is lack of menstrual hygiene with regard to use and disposal of sanitary pads.
For full detail about the product, visit http://glolifecare.com/news/
V.Ramachandran, CEO-President, Glo Life Care Equipments Pvt. Ltd can be reached at 9840038861/9677253675, v.ramachandran@glolifecare.com
(Times of India/India CSR News Network)
