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Pinkishe Foundation

Pinkishe is working to end period poverty by mounting campaigns, providing menstrual education and distributing free period products to marginalised and rural girls and women.

  • Gold Certified 2023
  • FCRA
  • 80G
  • 12A
  • CSR-1
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About

  • Headquarters

    Ghaizbad, Uttar Pradesh

  • Since

    2017

About Pinkishe Foundation Pinkishe is a non-profit organisation headquartered in New Delhi. Established in May 2017, Pinkishe is a section 80G and Read more12A certified "Registered Trust" focused on the development, well-being, pride, and happiness of Indian women and the girl-child. Pinkishe witnessed growth from just two persons to an all-women volunteer community of 200,000+ women and 20+ branches across India's length and breadth in only two years of inception. We run multiple programs for girls and women, the flagship being PADBANK. We work on spreading Menstrual Hygiene awareness and distributing period products to slums and rural areas. Our Focus Area Women's Health & Hygiene – specifically menstrual education & health. Vision Create a world where every menstruator enjoys their fundamental human right to have safe and dignified menstruation. Mission To end period poverty by advocating, mounting campaigns, creating open conversations, ensuring menstrual literacy, and helping make sustainable and environmentally friendly menstrual products accessible and affordable. History The flame for the Pinkishe (pronounced Pinkish) Movement was lit from the tiny eyes of a 16-year-old girl, Khyati Gupta when she noticed blood stains on her household help’s daughter's dress. On enquiry, to her utter shock and despair, she discovered they could not afford sanitary napkins and resorted to ‘scrap’ pieces of unhygienic cloth during menstruation. Deeply touched, she researched menstrual hygiene and realized our country's sorry state of affairs. Many women, especially in rural areas, lack awareness about menstrual hygiene. They even use materials like cow dung, dry leaves, sand and pieces of dirty rugs due to unavailability and financial constraints to obtain sanitary napkins. She approached her father and sought his help to start Pinkishe Foundation with her. This small flame lit by a 16-year-old burnt arduously and led to what today is a strong growing community of over 2 Lakh women, pledged towards the common cause of betterment of women and the girl child. The pillars of Pinkishe are the women who run the Foundation. They operate from their homes and contribute their services.


Issue

355 million is the number of menstruating women in India, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the country’s population. However, only 12% of India’s menstruating women have access to sanitary napkins [Ministry of Health]. Menstruation continues to be a subject of gender disparity in India. Myths about menstruation are largely prevalent, forcing many girls to drop out of school early or be ostracised for the duration of their menstrual cycle every month. In a 2014 report [by the NGO Dasra titled Spot On!], nearly 23 million girls drop out of school annually due to a lack of proper menstrual hygiene management facilities, which include the availability of sanitary napkins and logical awareness of menstruation. The report also came up with some startling numbers. Seventy per cent of mothers with menstruating daughters considered menstruation as dirty, and 71 per cent of adolescent girls remained unaware of menstruation till menarche. A 2014 UNICEF report pointed out that in Tamil Nadu, 79% of girls and women were unaware of menstrual hygiene practices. The percentage was 66% in Uttar Pradesh, 56% in Rajasthan and 51% in West Bengal. Menstrual hygiene is vital for the health and well-being of women. However, the poor understanding of menstruation and lack of safe menstrual practices leads to an increased risk of genitourinary infections. Hence it is imperative to create awareness about menstrual hygiene and ensure the availability of safe menstrual products to them. As per two 2022 reports by Toxic Links, commercially available disposable sanitary pads contain a high degree of highly harmful Phthalates and VOCs and are 90% plastic. India produces 12.3 billion disposable sanitary pads every year that goes into landfill and takes 500 to 700 years to decompose, causing a huge environmental hazard. The need, therefore, is to use eco-friendly options. Situation Analysis Poor menstrual hygiene practices of using old cloth and disposal in the open are significant risk factors for cervical cancer. As per the data (2019-21) by National Family Health Survey, 70% of women aged 15-24 in rural India do not use sanitary napkins. The consequence of poor menstrual hygiene can be urinary tract infections (UTIs), dermatitis, alteration in the pH balance of vaginal secretions, bacterial vaginosis, and genital tract infection, all of which can increase the susceptibility of females to cervical cancer. Worldwide, Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in women and the second most common in India. According to a report by Bio Med Central, India [https://www.biomedcentral.com] accounts for 27% of global cervical cancer cases. Cervical cancer is one of the major causes of death due to cancer among women in India. This rate is almost twice the global average. When it comes to practicing good menstrual hygiene, it is imperative that this begins from a young age to avoid detrimental health issues during the later stages of life [www.divakarshospital.com]. The ignorance and shyness of women, particularly from urban slums and rural parts of the country, towards discussing these issues leads to poor information. It is necessary to educate women about safe menstrual practices such as avoiding using cloth and opting for sanitary napkins, proper disposal of sanitary waste, and encouraging them to undergo regular screening which helps to detect infections and cancers in an early stage.


Action

a) making sustainable menstrual products accessible affordably to urban and rural marginalised menstruating girls and women b) educating pre-menstruators, early-stage menstruators, and mid-to-late-stage menstruators on aspects of maintaining menstrual health and hygiene c) mounting campaigns to kill age-old taboos and silence around menstruation, including among boys and men too, to foster open conversations and mutual support

Demographies Served

Cause Area

Sector

Sub Sector

Impact

We empower menstruators to: - Improve menstrual hygiene practices - Make informed choices based on individual needs and beliefs - Prioritize their bodies, especially menstrual and reproductive health - Maintain good menstrual and reproductive health - Overcome social taboos and stigma - Continue their education - Garner support from family, community, and ecosystem. We ensure alignment with: - Good Health & Well-Being (SDG 3) - Gender Equality (SDG 5) - Sanitation & Hygiene (SDG 6.2) - Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

Vision & Mission

Vision - Create a world where every menstruator enjoys their fundamental human right to have safe and dignified menstruation.

Mission - To end period poverty by channeling the civic society's efforts towards advocating, mounting campaigns, creating open conversations, ensuring menstrual literacy, and helping make sustainable and environmentally friendly menstrual products accessible and affordable.

Donor History

Give Foundation, Axis Bank, SVP Philanthropy Foundation, FlipKart, Boston Consulting Group, CAF America, KPMG, LIC of India

Programs

Impact Metrics

  • Sanitary Pads Distributed

    Program Name

    Pad Bank

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2019-20 61061
    • 2020-21 160418
    • 2021-22 211194
    • 2022-23 247302
    • 2023-24 289724

  • Menstruators Supported

    Program Name

    Pad Bank

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2019-20 17288
    • 2020-21 38438
    • 2021-22 47031
    • 2022-23 50293
    • 2023-24 55326

  • Number of Workshop Conducted

    Program Name

    Pad Bank

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2022-23 171
    • 2023-24 686

Theory of Change

If:
We end period poverty and ensure menstrual health (MHH) at the household, community ecosystem, and national level.
By:
a) making sustainable menstrual products accessible affordably to urban and rural marginalised menstruating girls and women
b) by educating pre-menstruators, early-stage menstruators, and mid-to-late-stage menstruators on aspects of maintaining menstrual health and hygiene
c) by mounting campaigns to kill age-old taboos and silence around menstruation, including among boys and men too, to foster open conversations and mutual support
We can make menstruators:
a) Improve their Menstrual Hygiene practices
b) Make informed choices as per individual needs & beliefs
c) Develop a behaviour of prioritizing their bodies, especially MHH and SRH (Menstrual Health & Hygiene and Sexual & Reproductive Health)
d) Maintain good Menstrual & Reproductive Health
e) Fight away the prevalent limiting social taboos and stigma
f) Continue studies in their schools
g) Garner & count on support from every member in the family, including men, the community, and the eco-system
We can ensure:
a) Good Health & Well-Being (SDG 3)
b) Gender Equality (SDG 5)
c) Sanitation & Hygiene (SDG 6.2)
d) Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

Leadership Team

  • Khyati Gupta

    Director Youth Ops

  • Monica Lohani

    Director HR & PFO

  • Anindita Chowdhury

    Director Padbank

  • Simmi Dhamija

    Advisory Board Member

  • Arun Gupta

    Managing Trustee & President

  • Shalini Gupta

    Secretary

  • Vandana Gupta

    Treasurer

  • Anindita Choudhary

    Director Padbank

  • Swati Singhal

    Director - Swara

Demographics & Structure

  • No. of Employees

    6-20

  • Strength of Governing Body

    3

M&E

  • Internal, External Assessors

    Yes

Policies

  • Ethics and Transparency Policies

    Yes

  • Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy

    No

Political & Religious Declarations

  • On Affiliation if any

    No

  • On Deployment Bias if any

    No

Registration Details

  • PAN Card

    AADTP3680Q

  • Registration ID

    504/2017-18 Book No. 4 Vol 1159

  • VO ID / Darpan ID

    DL/2018/0184509

  • 12A

    AADTP3680QE20178

  • 80G

    AADTP3680QF20218

  • FCRA

    231661924

  • CSR Registration Number

    CSR00016905

Location

  • Headquarters

    A-202, Neelpadam Kunj, Sector 1, Vaishali, Ghaizbad, 201010

    Directions

Other Details

  • Type & Sub Type

    Non-profit
    Trust

Website

Financial Details

 Income / Expenses

  • 2020-21

    Income
    Rs.1,613,487
    Expenses
    Rs.870,822
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.110,159
    Program Expenses
    Rs.760,663
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.

  • 2021-22

    Income
    Rs.12,661,976
    Expenses
    Rs.6,970,171
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.139,403
    Program Expenses
    Rs.6,830,768
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.

  • 2022-23

    Income
    Rs.10,416,568
    Expenses
    Rs.8,027,912
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.321,116
    Program Expenses
    Rs.7,706,796
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.

  • 2023-24

    Income
    Rs.13,840,575
    Expenses
    Rs.13,535,595
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.470,963
    Program Expenses
    Rs.13,064,632
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.
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