Change can be implemented only once we initiate discussions: Akshay Kumar
New Delhi, May 24: Superstar Akshay Kumar, who will participate in a Menstrual Awareness Conclave here to mark Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, says the society can only implement change if there are discussions.
He has urged people everyone should ensure that all women have the right to manage their periods safely and with dignity.
"The Menstrual Awareness Conclave is a crucial assembly of minds, influencers and change makers - convening under one roof with the common goal of tackling the urgent issues, taboos and stigmas associated with menstrual hygiene.
"We as a collective society can only implement change once we initiate discussion, and the conclave on Menstrual Hygiene Day is a fitting platform for us to truly empower a nation of women. Together we can ensure that every female has the right to manage her period safely and with dignity," Akshay said in a statement.
The "Pad Man" star will attend the event as its chief guest, along with The Nine Movement and national change makers.
The Niine Movement, conceived by Amar Tulsiyan, is an ambitious five-year plan aimed at raising awareness of the importance of menstrual hygiene and tackling the taboos associated with menstruation. It will be officially launched at the conclave.
The Menstrual Awareness Conclave will feature two high-level panels, which will engage prominent change-makers from the field of menstrual hygiene awareness and management.
The first panel is chaired and moderated by Poonam Muttreja, the Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI), which has been at the forefront of policy advocacy and research on gender, population, health and development issues in India.
She will speak to eminent panellists focusing on the importance of menstrual hygiene management awareness and practice and the work already being conducted on ground to tackle the issues and address the barriers.
Some of the panelists include film actor and women's rights activist Shabana Azmi and Avinash Kumar, Director Programme and Policy, WaterAid India, an NGO which aims to transform the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people by improving access to WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services.
Tulsiyan said: "Menstrual hygiene awareness is an issue that is severely under-represented in this country, as demonstrated by the amount of women who still don't use proper menstrual hygiene products to manage their periods.
"With the conclave, I am hopeful that we can inspire and motivate everyone to get involved and join the Chain of Niine."
Film personalities, academics, policymakers, government officials, activists, business stalwarts, NGOs, and thought-leaders will discuss the impact that stigma and taboos have had on menstruation, which have held girls and women back for centuries from achieving their potential and living a life of menstrual dignity.
The event aims to provide an essential platform focusing on collaboration, innovation and cooperation to assess, plan and put into action sustainable solutions to tackling menstrual issues across India, with the support of leading change-makers.
Akshay tackled the issue of menstrual taboo with his recent award-winning film "Pad Man" and will take to the stage to interact with the audience, sharing experiences of his time filming the movie, and explaining why he was so compelled to not only star but produce a film on the subject.
Earlier this month, he extended support to the nationwide campaign for the Niine Movement - #18to82 - to bridge the gap between the 18 per cent of menstruating females in India who use sanitary napkins, and the 82 per cent predominantly engaging in unhygienic practices.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
