AAP Member of Parliament for Punjab Raghav Chadha raised concerns in Parliament about the social stigma surrounding menstruation and the challenges many girls face in maintaining menstrual hygiene.
Speaking on the issue, he said that although menstruation is a natural biological process, the stigma associated with it continues to affect the education, health, and dignity of millions of girls.
Chadha said that when girls are forced to miss school because they do not have access to sanitary pads, water, or adequate privacy, the issue cannot be seen as an individual problem.
Periods are natural. Stigma is not.
If a girl misses school because there are no sanitary pads, no water and no privacy, it is not her personal problem. It is our collective failure.
We live in a country where alcohol and cigarettes are sold openly, but sanitary pads are still… pic.twitter.com/C0KJt4du8J
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) March 13, 2026
According to him, such situations represent a collective failure of society to address a basic need that directly impacts the lives of girls.
He also pointed out what he described as a contradiction in the way society treats different products.
Chadha noted that while alcohol and cigarettes are sold openly across the country, sanitary pads are often handed over wrapped in newspaper, as though they must be hidden. Referring to this practice, he said that a biological and scientific reality has gradually been turned into a social taboo, and a subject rooted in science has been pushed into silence within society.
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Chadha later shared his views on the issue in a post on the social media platform X. In the post, he wrote, “periods are natural. Stigma is not. If a girl misses school because there are no sanitary pads, no water and no privacy, it is not her personal problem. It is our collective failure.“
“We live in a country where alcohol and cigarettes are sold openly, but sanitary pads are still wrapped in newspaper as if they must be hidden. Somewhere along the way, society turned a biological fact into a social taboo. A matter of science has been turned into a matter of silence. Menstrual hygiene is not charity. It is not a favour. It is not a side issue. It is a matter of health, education and equality. Above all, it is a matter of dignity,” he added.
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Chadha also clarified that menstrual hygiene should not be treated as charity or as a favour. He said the issue is closely connected with health, education, and equality, and above all with the dignity of women and girls.
While raising the matter in Parliament, he highlighted that more than 35 crore women and girls in India are affected by the issue.
“A nation cannot truly claim to be progressive if millions of girls continue to face fear, shame, and silence over something that is a natural part of life,” he added.
Chadha said the real measure of progress would be the day every girl in India can attend school without fear or embarrassment, live with dignity, and speak openly about menstruation without stigma. Only then, he said, can society truly say it has moved forward.
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