02-11-2009, 10:04 PM
Another oldie that didn't make it to Hon Renuka Choudhary's desk, probabibly because this hostel is run by the DMK govt her ally.
Talk about big brother abusing basic privacy rights of women.
link
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU Mar 25, 2006
<b>'Menstrual register' in hostel raises eyebrows</b>
Friday March 24 2006 10:05 IST
MADURAI: The log book of the Government Adi Dravida students welfare hostel in Sholavandan in Madurai district, has every routine detail â from purchase of rice and pulses to electricity charges.
But what has caused a flutter is the maintenance of an exclusive register to 'monitor' the menstrual cycle of the residents at the hostel!
This disgusting practice has already kicked off a debate, with women activists calling it 'an intrusion of privacy' and gross violation of rights. This practice in the hostel has been going on for quite some time now.
<b>The hostel, functioning out of a ramshackle rented building with 58 inmates, including 24 Dalit girls and 34 non-Dalits - as against the sanctioned strength of 42 Dalits and 12 Backward Class and three other community students - is 'home' to girl students from standards VI to XII.</b>
It has been maintaining the register with details like months and dates of the menstrual cycle of girls who had attained puberty.
Irregular menstrual cycles invite raised eyebrows and frowns from those running the hostel. When this website's newspaper reporter gained entry into the hostel and interacted with students, they revealed that the cook always kept an eye on them and questioned the students if they menstruated a day or two late.
"Doubting our morality, she uses abusive language when the menstruation gets delayed," said a senior student.
The girls inform the cook who gives them the register in which they enter the details like month, date and time with signatures.
The prudish hostel warden Selvarani, for whom 'morality of the girls' is prime, examines the register religiously every day.
When asked about the practice, a middle school student said, "Yes akka, I write down the details against each column and then go to the riverside to take a head bath.''
As the hostel does not have a bathroom, these girls claim that they are forced to go the river bank even after dusk to take a bath on the first day of menstruation. They also have to answer to nature's call in the open air. They also alleged that due to this loathsome practice, a few students left the hostel last year.
Condemning the sordid practice, M Jeeva, Regional Convenor, Tamil Nadu Child Rights Protection Network, said, "The poor parents of these girls want them to be educated. But they are subjected to this unethical practice, which is a gross violation of child rights."
This apart, the hostel lacks basic amenities and infrastructure. Moreover, the students say they are forced to do all household work right from carrying loads of vegetables from the Sholavandan bus stand to cleaning the warden's toilet.
Nutritious food was alien to them. However, warden Selvarani, who denied that the students were given a non-nutritious diet, took pride in maintaining a separate register to monitor the menstrual cycle of the girls.
"It is a clear example of maintaining discipline in hostel," she said, waving the register at this website's newspaper reporter.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Talk about big brother abusing basic privacy rights of women.
link
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU Mar 25, 2006
<b>'Menstrual register' in hostel raises eyebrows</b>
Friday March 24 2006 10:05 IST
MADURAI: The log book of the Government Adi Dravida students welfare hostel in Sholavandan in Madurai district, has every routine detail â from purchase of rice and pulses to electricity charges.
But what has caused a flutter is the maintenance of an exclusive register to 'monitor' the menstrual cycle of the residents at the hostel!
This disgusting practice has already kicked off a debate, with women activists calling it 'an intrusion of privacy' and gross violation of rights. This practice in the hostel has been going on for quite some time now.
<b>The hostel, functioning out of a ramshackle rented building with 58 inmates, including 24 Dalit girls and 34 non-Dalits - as against the sanctioned strength of 42 Dalits and 12 Backward Class and three other community students - is 'home' to girl students from standards VI to XII.</b>
It has been maintaining the register with details like months and dates of the menstrual cycle of girls who had attained puberty.
Irregular menstrual cycles invite raised eyebrows and frowns from those running the hostel. When this website's newspaper reporter gained entry into the hostel and interacted with students, they revealed that the cook always kept an eye on them and questioned the students if they menstruated a day or two late.
"Doubting our morality, she uses abusive language when the menstruation gets delayed," said a senior student.
The girls inform the cook who gives them the register in which they enter the details like month, date and time with signatures.
The prudish hostel warden Selvarani, for whom 'morality of the girls' is prime, examines the register religiously every day.
When asked about the practice, a middle school student said, "Yes akka, I write down the details against each column and then go to the riverside to take a head bath.''
As the hostel does not have a bathroom, these girls claim that they are forced to go the river bank even after dusk to take a bath on the first day of menstruation. They also have to answer to nature's call in the open air. They also alleged that due to this loathsome practice, a few students left the hostel last year.
Condemning the sordid practice, M Jeeva, Regional Convenor, Tamil Nadu Child Rights Protection Network, said, "The poor parents of these girls want them to be educated. But they are subjected to this unethical practice, which is a gross violation of child rights."
This apart, the hostel lacks basic amenities and infrastructure. Moreover, the students say they are forced to do all household work right from carrying loads of vegetables from the Sholavandan bus stand to cleaning the warden's toilet.
Nutritious food was alien to them. However, warden Selvarani, who denied that the students were given a non-nutritious diet, took pride in maintaining a separate register to monitor the menstrual cycle of the girls.
"It is a clear example of maintaining discipline in hostel," she said, waving the register at this website's newspaper reporter.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->