In a first for India, Nagpur has introduced an OTP-based sanitary napkin home-delivery system, setting a milestone in digital public health and women’s hygiene empowerment.
The Civil Surgeon’s Office, General Hospital, Nagpur, has rolled out a ₹3-crore pilot project titled “Smile… A Pilot Project” under the Free Sanitary Napkin Distribution Scheme of the Maharashtra government. The initiative will cover Ramtek, Parseoni, and Mouda talukas, reaching around one lakh women and adolescent girls aged 10 to 55.
Under the project, each beneficiary will receive one pack of eight sanitary pads per month, delivered directly to her home by trained local women volunteers. Each delivery will be verified through a one-time password (OTP) sent to the beneficiary’s phone, recorded via a cloud-based monitoring system for transparency and accountability. The software will track deliveries, inventory, feedback, and volunteer performance, with data hosted on secure Indian servers.
Officials said the project aims to tackle India’s menstrual hygiene crisis, where access to safe products remains low. As per the World Bank (2024), nearly 500 million women globally lack adequate menstrual facilities. In India, only 42% of rural girls use hygienic products, while 22% still rely on unhygienic materials — leading to infections and school absenteeism (BMC Public Health, 2022; PubMed, 2024).
The programme combines doorstep supply, OTP verification, and digital tracking — a first in the country — and could soon be expanded statewide. With Nagpur leading the way, this initiative blends technology, dignity, and accessibility to transform menstrual health delivery across India.
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