Kerala sets a new standard for Menstrual Dignity. Can India keep up?

Synopsis

The Kerala government has proposed extending menstrual leave benefits from college to school students under its newly announced “Project Menstrual Dignity.” It aims to provide girl students with up to three days of menstrual leave every month, along with weekend catch-up classes to prevent academic disruption. The initiative expands an existing framework available for female university students in Kerala since 2023.

What is Kerala’s ‘Project Menstrual Dignity’?

The United Democratic Front Kerala government has proposed menstrual leave for school students. Proposed the idea of ‘Project Menstrual Dignity’, which includes ‘three days’ leave for girl students every month.

The proposal was made during the Governor’s policy address in the state Assembly on Friday, May 29. In order to make up for classes missed during period leaves, ‘catch-up classes’ are scheduled at weekends.

During the Assembly address, Governor Arlekar stated that the initiative is aimed at making educational institutions and public spaces more inclusive and accessible for women and girls.

"Our commitment to girl students is reflected in Project Menstrual Dignity, under which we intend to make educational institutions and public spaces friendly for girls and women,” The Governor said. Moreover, it is used to describe various global and regional initiatives dedicated to eradicating menstrual stigma.

Why Kerala’s College Menstrual Leave Model Matters?

In January 2023, the Kerala Higher Education Department curtailed the mandatory attendance limit for female university students from 75% to 73%, initiated by the Left Democratic Front government.

The newly proposed school policy is an extension of the college framework. The initiative followed the earlier introduction of menstrual leave at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), which had become one of the first universities in India to adopt such a measure.

How do schools prevent empty classrooms?

The Proposed policy is structured as an optional safety net and not a mandatory holiday. Schools will adhere to specific checks to prevent mass absenteeism. The policy permits a kid to take 3-days off, but it is intended for students experiencing severe dysmenorrhea, which is debilitating menstrual pain and not just another day off.

Mandatory weekend catch-up classes: To deter students from abusing the system, schools require anyone who takes menstrual leave to attend mandatory weekend catch-up sessions. Although the government has taken steps to make “sanitary napkins, footwear and other necessities available to women.

SC: stand on menstrual leave

In March 2026, the Supreme Court of India refused to impose a nationwide menstrual leave policy. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that making menstrual leave compulsory across workplaces can create unintended consequences for women in employment.

"Creating awareness and sensitisation is different... but the moment you bring in a law mandating menstrual leave, nobody will hire them.”

In schools and colleges, the primary goal is to ensure girls don’t drop out because of health barriers and shortcomings by system. Moreover, the corporate sector operates with immediate financial implications; when business operates under tight daily deliverables, missing staff leads to severe inefficiency in the workflow.

Menstrual Leave: Equity or Inequality?

Isolating one specific type of biological pain while ignoring other severe, acute medical issues can lead to an inherently unequal system that leaves young boys without a comparable safety net.

To bridge this gap, the institution should begin with Gender-neutral leaves, every student regardless of their gender gets 3-days off and have “catch-up classes during weekends” although strictness will be adhered which was their during 3 days off for girls, anyhow it will tend to simplify teachers condition as well as they won’t be able to come every single weekends.

How will this model lead to girls who are not enrolled in any schools?

For girls who are not enrolled in schools, menstrual education in India is delivered through community-based healthcare, providing menstrual health education. Schemes such as ASHA, who conducts door-to-door outreach in rural areas. Anganwadi organises sessions on menstrual hygiene and tends to distribute subsidised sanitary pads and menstrual health information; it comes under the National Health Mission’s Menstrual Hygiene Scheme.

Metropolitan cities

In Delhi, the “Menstrual Health Matters” campaign includes the availability of sanitary pads in public toilets and awareness programmes. Mumbai focuses on awareness drives against menstrual stigma and health camps for daily wage workers.

The Test of Kerala’s “Project Menstrual Dignity’

Whether Kerala’s “Project Menstrual Dignity” becomes a revolutionary landmark or just another National debate will solely depend on its Implementation.