Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Menstrual Health Management
"Comprehensive approach ensuring access to menstrual hygiene products, education, sanitation facilities, and destigmatisation of menstruation"
Menstrual Health Management (MHM) is a holistic public health approach that encompasses access to affordable and safe menstrual hygiene products, adequate water and sanitation infrastructure (WASH), accurate education about menstruation, disposal mechanisms for used products, and destigmatisation of menstruation as a natural biological process. In India, NFHS-5 data shows that only 64.4% of women aged 15-24 use hygienic methods of menstrual protection. The government's Menstrual Hygiene Scheme (launched 2011 under NRHM) provides subsidised sanitary pads to adolescent girls, and several states have introduced menstrual leave policies. The Supreme Court in 2023 directed the Centre to formulate a national policy on menstrual hygiene. Kerala became the first state to grant menstrual leave to students (2023), while Bihar has provided two days of menstrual leave to women government employees since 1992.
Important for UPSC GS-2 (Social Justice, Women's Issues, Health Policy) and GS-1 (Social Issues). UPSC tests state-level menstrual leave policies, NFHS data on menstrual hygiene, the connection to school dropout rates among girls, and the broader framework of reproductive health rights. The topic also appears in Essay and Interview.
- 1 Covers access to products, WASH facilities, education, and destigmatisation
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- 3 Bihar provides 2 days menstrual leave to women government employees since 1992
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India's menstrual health debate intensified in March 2026 when multiple editorials advocated for a national menstrual leave policy — Bihar has provided two days of menstrual leave since 1992, and Kerala extended it to students in 2023, but no national legislation exists.
