The channel donated the proceedings to the Vatsalya Foundation sponsoring the menstrual hygiene of 2000 women
24th May 2018, Mumbai: Zee Cinema’s social media campaign #Padathon that was directed towards raising funds to help provide affordable sanitary napkins to women across the country, recently came to its conclusion. In its last leg the campaign saw traction of 50,000 posts across social media platforms and was instrumental in starting a conversation about the importance of menstrual hygiene. The #Padathon campaign that took social media by a storm raised Rs 6 lakhs and the proceedings were donated to an NGO ‘Vatsalya Foundation’.
Through the #Padathon campaign, Zee Cinema focused on raising awareness about menstrual hygiene and creating a platform to start conversations about the tabooed topic. For every social media post mentioning #Padathon, the channel contributed Rs.10 towards the cause of aiding menstrual hygiene to women in need across the country. This initiative successfully culminated in an outreach that not only educated women, but also empowered them. Kick started by Akshay Kumar, the campaign garnered support from Bollywood celebrities like Twinkle Khanna, Radhika Apte, Shabana Azmi who also shared posts and tweeted about it. Soon enough, the campaign gained momentum and went viral across all social media platforms with fans posting about this unique initiative.
Supporting the initiative, actor Sonam Kapoor who played the character of Pari in Pad Man said, “Zee Cinema is doing a great job of working towards creating awareness about menstrual hygiene and sanitation in India. We live in times where we have the tools and mediums to educate and extend a helping hand towards people around us. The Padathon initiative is one such medium, where the proceedings earned will be donated towards sponsoring the menstrual hygiene of girls across the country. It is a noble cause and I am glad to be associated with Pad Man and help women across the country who are in need. As responsible citizens, we should all support this cause that endeavors to raise funds and start conversations about the importance of sanitary hygiene and create more Pad Men in the country.”
The NGO, Vatsalya Foundation headed by Swati Bedeker manufactures and distributes sanitary napkins under the brand name ‘Sakhi’. After studying the model set up by the original pad man himself Arunachalam Muruganantham of Coimbatore, she manufactured sanitary pads that were hygienic yet affordable. On being asked about this mission, Swati Bedekar said, “Hats off to Zee Cinema for their #Padathon mission. There is indifference in the society because of the ignorance towards menstrual hygiene and this mission created awareness and made pads and distributed them in places where women do not use them, as they are expensive.”
With the Rs 6 lakhs donated by Zee Cinema, Swati Bedekar aims to set up a similar unit in Delhi, which will raise awareness about the importance of menstrual hygiene by making 40 thousand low-cost sanitary napkins per month. The unit will also create employment opportunities for 12 to 15 women for a movement which is for the women and by the women.
Watch the World TV Premiere of Pad Man on Saturday, 26th May at 8pm only on Zee Cinema.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?