Asks Omar to act across J&K schools - implement SC mandate on menstrual hygiene: Raman Suri

JAMMU: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raman Suri today urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to immediately implement the directives of the Supreme Court of India on menstrual hygiene and basic sanitation, and ensure that all government as well as private educational institutions across the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) have separate, safe and functional bathroom facilities for girls, boys, and students with disabilities.

Suri said the Supreme Court has clearly held that menstrual hygiene is intrinsically linked to dignity, health, equality and the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, and that governments are duty-bound to provide adequate infrastructure, privacy, access to sanitary products, clean water, safe disposal mechanisms and awareness programmes in schools.

He expressed concern that despite repeated judicial emphasis, the ground reality in many schools of Jammu and Kashmir remains alarming, with the absence of separate toilets, non-functional washrooms, lack of privacy for adolescent girls and negligible facilities for children with disabilities. Such conditions, Suri said, amount to a violation of Supreme Court directions as well as basic human dignity, and directly contribute to health issues, absenteeism and school dropouts among girls.

Raman Suri reminded that the apex court has recognised that poor menstrual hygiene management perpetuates stigma and inequality, and has directed states and Union Territories to adopt a comprehensive, rights-based approach that includes separate toilets for girls and boys, barrier-free and accessible toilets for persons with disabilities, availability of sanitary napkins, scientific disposal of menstrual waste, and regular sensitisation programmes in educational institutions.

The BJP leader said that Jammu and Kashmir, being a Union Territory, must lead by example and ensure strict and uniform compliance in every government and private school without exception. He asserted that education cannot thrive where dignity is denied, and that no girl should be forced to choose between her health and her education, nor should children with disabilities be treated as an afterthought. Calling for immediate action, Suri demanded a comprehensive audit of all educational institutions, fixation of accountability, and time-bound implementation of Supreme Court-mandated norms, along with placing a publicly accessible compliance report in the public domain.

He stressed that this was not a political issue but a constitutional, humanitarian and moral obligation, and urged the Chief Minister to implement the Supreme Court’s orders in letter and spirit, saying the children of Jammu and Kashmir deserve nothing less.