NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, September 14, 2015

India’s union ministry of health and family welfare installed four vending machines to dispense sanitary napkins in the ladies’ washrooms of its New Delhi office.

In a country where millions of women still do not use sanitary napkins—and rely on old, unhygienic rags for their monthly cycle—initiatives like these are very welcome. Starting from Nirman Bhawan, the health ministry’s workplace in the Indian national capital, the vending machines, dubbed Vendigo, will be installed in schools, colleges, hospitals and offices for women and girls across the country.

But (in the photo of the new machine's unveiling): Not a single woman.

A female spokesperson told Quartz that while women attended the inauguration, “the photographer was more keen on clicking the photo of the additional secretary” and his entourage. Almost all the important guests at the event were men, and this particular image is the only one circulated to the media.