For a few minutes, I felt senseless, and when I regained consciousness, I was seething with pain—it was the cramps! Every month, I fear facing my menstruation days, and I have been enduring this for thirteen long years since I was 15.

And I am not alone in this journey of pain. Several research reports have shown that 9 out of 10 women suffer from period pain. In the first four years of my menstruating days, I was given to use unhygienic clothes repeatedly. I was told not to wash and dry those clothes in direct sunlight. When I moved to the city and learned about pads by witnessing my friends using them, I realized that I couldn't afford them.

The most painful part is that during emergencies, I am forced to use these unhygienic methods, even as a PhD student, due to the lack of accessibility to sanitary napkins. There are many menstruating individuals who are unable to access, sanitary pads and end up resorting to unhygienic alternatives. Moreover, there is an uncomfortable silence surrounding menstruation, accompanied by numerous taboos and practices that aim to silence the issues surrounding it. The universities in Assam are mostly rural-based and have more than 50% female assigned by birth students. Considering the aforementioned issues, I urge the universities to:

• Install Sanitary Napkin Vending Machines in universities by the end of 2023.
• Install high-quality Pad Incinerator Machines.
• Organize awareness programs on Menstruation Health and Hygiene every year.

Dibrugarh University is the first university in Assam to have already installed Pad Incinerators, and Tezpur University has a pad vending machine. It is time to take a step forward in this direction, as higher education institutions can make a difference. I am hopeful that the concerned authorities will take the necessary steps.

We believe that such measures will not only provide access to pads for menstruating individuals on universities, but also bring about a change in the outlook towards menstruating individuals and stop forcing us to endure the pain in silence. However, we need your support. Please sign my petition and join us on this journey of change.