By Business India Editorial

Essar Foundation, the CSR arm of the Essar group, has launched a Sahej app that promotes awareness about menstrual hygiene. It has also distributed over 400,000 sanitary napkins to women in Mumbai slums and the Mumbai Police, in collaboration with BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) and BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport).

The Sahej app has been developed in consultation with key NGOs (Non-governmental Organisations) working in the menstrual hygiene space, namely the Rotaract Club, Kavach A Movement and Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan. The Android-based app offers a one-stop solution for women to menstruate with dignity. It encourages adolescent girls to maintain menstrual health by availing of hygienic products at subsidised prices.

The Sahej app features an e-store of menstrual products manufactured by women-led micro-enterprises and SHGs (Self Help Groups). It also provides a platform to donate sanitary napkins to underprivileged women, as well as equip Aanganwadi workers with the right information for educating girls from rural India on correct menstrual hygiene. Additionally, the app provides for unique ways to promote menstrual hygiene awareness through interactive game-based learning, educational videos by renowned doctors, and a period tracker. Available in three languages—Hindi, Marathi and English—the app caters to the customised needs of every woman across every age group.

Mr Kaustubh Sonalkar, Essar’s Group President-HR, and CEO – Essar Foundation, said: “Promoting menstrual hygiene is our topmost priority at Essar Foundation. We have launched the Sahej app with a vision to revolutionise women’s health and empowerment. It will ensure that women from all sections of the society can lead a healthier life, and become more active contributors to the economy. Sahej is not just a menstrual hygiene management app. It is a movement to sensitively, yet assertively, address the subject of menstruation. With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many women will have limited access to menstrual hygiene products and services. We hope Sahej will help break geographical and linguistic barriers to equip women with the right information and products.”