SHILLONG, Oct 31: A vending machine for sanitary napkins was installed at Kongthong village on Saturday. This machine has been donated by Rajya Sabha member, Prof Rakesh Sinha, who adopted Kongthong village two years ago after The Shillong Times interviewed Sinha and urged him to adopt the village.
Prior to that Prof Sinha had raised in Parliament the need to grant a heritage status to Kongthong village by UNESCO on account of its women’s unique naming tunes for their children.
In September this year, Kongthong was chosen as one of the three entries from India for the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s ‘Best Tourism Village’.
Since his adoption of Kongthong village, Prof Sinha has kept in constant touch with the people of Kongthong. He recently sent two research scholars to do an assessment of the village, its needs, the health and nutritional status of the people there and what can be done to boost tourism and other economic activities. During his visit to Kongthong in October this year, Prof Sinha has adopted two other villages not very far from Kongthong, namely Mawmang and Sder.
On October 27, the research team of Prof Sinha landed in Kongthong and visited Mawmang along with youth leader Rothell Khongsit for a survey and interaction with the villagers. The villagers explained their problems and also gave their own ideas regarding the development of the village to Harsh Datt (Head Researcher). The ‘Sordar’ of the village was also present and also expressed his views concerning Mawmang. Prof Sinha told this reporter that this exercise was necessary to speed up development in the areas under study.
On Saturday, at the function where the sanitary pad vending machine was installed by Editor, The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim, both women and men of the village were present. Mukhim said that the sanitary pad vending machine is necessary in this day and age to maintain menstrual hygiene. She lauded the men who were also present.
She said menstruation is a biological process taking place in the woman’s body every month as a part of the reproduction process hence there is no reason why there should be any diffidence to discuss this matter upfront.
The Shillong Times Editor also said that the sanitary pads needed a proper disposal system and was informed by the researcher that Prof Sinha would soon be installing an incinerator in the village which will take care of the non-biodegradable waste.
It may be mentioned that Prof Sinha had also got a few modern toilet facilities constructed for use by tourists visiting the place which has now become an important tourism destination.