Press Release

A group of 80 women, in the city, are trying to be self-reliant. Add the eco-friendly angle to it and you have a complete package. As part of an initiative floated by Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust (LSNMT), these women are learning to make reusable cloth sanitary napkins for themselves. At Louisa Children’s Home in Richmond Town, is a teacher and a machine enabling them to do so. “There are possible health implications of using a pad – one from using it and another from the irregular garbage collection especially in the areas where they live. It also turns out to be an expensive affair for the underprivileged section. They end up spending ₹300-400 on sanitary pads in a month which is a lot for them. Most important is the ecological factor. They clog up our drainage system, rivers, oceans,” says Nalini Nanjundayya, Director & Trustee, LSNMT.
The campaign – Sustainable Menstruation for underprivileged women and young girls, was launched with a lecture by well-known gynaecologist Dr. Meenakshi Bharath. Last week she addressed an audience of 70 women and young girls. At the end of the event, many women took a pledge to save the environment by putting their palms prints with red paint on a white canvas which had a message of “Save the Environment. Happy Periods!” The campaign plans to highlight three benefits – no rash, no trash and less cash.
Dr Bharath highlighted the adverse impact of normal sanitary napkins on the users and the environment. She spoke about how rains cause waste from sanitary napkins in landfills to seep into the water table. She also pointed out how plastics from sanitary napkins can induce itching, irritation, and vaginal discharge. She advocated the usage alternatives like of cloth pads which can be washed and worn for 1 year and menstrual cups that last for 5 years both depending on usage patterns. She spoke at length about their health, economic, and environmental benefits.
We will conduct a series of workshops to raise awareness among menstruating women to try alternative methods like reusable cloth pads. We also want to help underprivileged women create livelihoods by providing necessary training and materials to make low-cost cloth pads which also help protect the environment,” says Nalini

The young face of the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust, Niska is a dynamic well-travelled advertising professional with a post graduate degree from London, UK. She grew up with the social ethics that her parents and grandparents believed in and even as a young child, used to accompany her mother to the various 4S Foundation projects. As gen next of Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust with a forward thinking global perspective, she is looking to expand the reach of the Foundation into new areas. She feels especially passionately about new-age projects like alternative energy for villages, eco friendly industries and sustainability programmes.

A very successful corporate Image Consultant, who lived in Africa and the Middle East. A personal tragedy, the loss of her surgeon husband, forced her to step out of her secure comfort zone and become a financially independent woman, capable of providing her three children with a secure future. A dynamic Rotarian and Founder Director of The Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust, her goal is to enable young women to fend for themselves and become productive members of society. In a world where so many urgent social problems need tackling, she believes that pooling resources, partnering with like-minded, influential individuals and involving them in social change projects is really the smart way forward.

Subbarao, a highly successful corporate head, also wore many different hats over the course of his illustrious life and career. He was many things to many people. Influential CEO of a multinational company, caring husband and father, Sai baba devotee, composer of popular hymns and bhajans, author of a devotional book and co founder of the 4S Foundation which was later renamed Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. He passed away in the mid-2000’s but the work he started in collaboration with his wife and daughter lives on.

Lalitha Subbarao is the inspiration behind the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. Armed with a strong social conscience and a broad based global education (Masters from Ohio State University, USA) plus a deep desire to help disadvantaged women, her dream is now being realized through the efforts of the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. Lalitha was a woman of substance who worked quietly and steadily towards the betterment of those around her. Besides being a role model to her children, she authored and published two books–Nanu Mattu America in Kannada (America and I) describing her student life there in the mid 1950’s and a comprehensive book – Festivals of India. She rightly believed that women must be educated, empowered and financially independent. An educated wife and mother would in turn be a strong positive influence in the family and society at large, just as she was. Her legacy is carried on by the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust.