These days, many states provide sanitary napkins to girl students in government schools through their schemes so that they don’t have to skip classes during menstruation. While some states distribute them free of cost, a few of them charge money from the beneficiaries. However, this IAS officer from Bihar doesn’t think so.
This viral video of an IAS officer responding to a student asking for sanitary pads, as is her right, is making the wrong kind of noise for its tone-deaf answer.
In the clip posted by Journalist Marya Shakil (@maryashakil), a girl student, who is on the stage, can be seen asking, “When the government is providing us school uniform, scholarship and so many things, why can’t it provide Whisper of ₹20-30?”
To which, Senior IAS Officer and Managing Director of Women Development Corporation, Government of Bihar, Harjot Kaur Bamhrah, who seemed to be against freebies, responds to her question. “Ye jo taaliyaan baja rahe hain…is maang ka koi ant hai, 20 or 30 rupaiye ka Whisper bhi de sakte hain kal ko jeans pant bhi de sakte hain….” Kaur replies.
“Aur ant mein jab parivaar niyojan ki baat aayegi toh nirodh (condom) bhi muft mein hi dena padega,” she adds. The discussion soon turns into an argument.
Watch the video here:
And of course, netizens are pissed AF.
The video was recorded during a workshop called ‘Sashakt Beti, Samridh Bihar: Towards Enhancing The Value Of Girls In Bihar’ on Tuesday. Reportedly, it was organised by the State Women and Child Development Corporation in association with the UNICEF and other organisations.
According to a report by The Hindu, during the same event, another student informed Kaur about the broken door of girls’ toilet in her school in which male students also enter. To which, the IAS officer made a horrible remark saying, “Tell me, do you have separate toilets at your home for males and females? If you keep asking for lot of things at different places, how will it work?”
To hear such statements from an IAS officer is something we didn’t subscribe for. And comparing sanitary pads with a condom, oh god! Insensitive. Period.
What do you think about these remarks?