Shivamogga teachers and lecturers not to collect data on menstruation cycle from students

The Shivamogga administration has sent a circular to schools and colleges in the district instructing them not to collect data on the menstrual cycle from girl students and maintain a register of the information.

The circular was issued days after The Hindu carried a report on the previous circular from the district administration asking schools and colleges to maintain a separate register on the menstrual cycles of students as part of the Mission Suraksha campaign launched with the objective of ensuring the safety of children. Speaking to The Hindu, teachers, students, parents, and women’s activists had flagged the issue of violation of privacy.

Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegade has sent a clarification about the previous official memo, mentioning the news report published in The Hindu. In the circular, dated July 14, he states that the main objectives of the campaign (Mission Suraksha) include ensuring the safety of children by bringing down the cases of child marriage, sexual assault on children, and cases of anaemia among children, and providing counselling on health, hygiene, and handling the menstrual cycle. Managing personal information of students or infringing upon the privacy of students was not the objective of the campaign, he clarified.

Along with the circular, senior officers of the departments have also sent a message to the teachers instructing them that there is no need to collect data or maintain a register with regard to the menstrual cycles of students.

Following the news report, many people on social media platforms had expressed shock over the initiative and demanded that it be stopped. Rati Rao E., national president of the All-India Progressive Women’s Association, issued a press release demanding that the collection of data on menstrual cycles be stopped immediately. She stressed the need for launching a scientific awareness campaign on ‘my body, my right’ and also on prevention of sexual harassment, at home and public spaces.