The Sahej app has been developed in consultation with key NGOs working in the menstrual hygiene space, namely the Rotaract Club, Kavach A Movement and Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan.
“Sahej is not just a menstrual hygiene management app. It is a movement to sensitively, yet assertively, address the subject of menstruation,” Essar Foundation CEO and Essar Group President Human Resources Kaustubh Sonalkar said in a statement.
With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many women will have limited access to menstrual hygiene products and services, he said.
“We hope Sahej will help break geographical and linguistic barriers to equip women with the right information and products,” he added.
According to the Foundation, 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 a one-of-a-kind 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.
The Sahej App offers a variety of products like sanitary napkins, tampons, menstrual cups, panty liners and pee kits for women’s personal hygiene and choice at affordable rates.
Also, products like dispensers, incinerators, and even pad manufacturing technologies will be available at discounted prices. “We plan to launch the e-commerce facility of the App post the Covid-19 lockdown,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Foundation has also distributed 4 lakh sanitary napkins to women in Mumbai slums and the Mumbai police duirng the ongoing lockdown period.
Sanitary napkins were distributed in collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST),it said.
BMC helped the Foundation identify the relevant municipal wards where these pads were in short supply and BEST helped us with the transport, it added.
