Tribal Maharashtra NGO SPARSH, founded by Dr. Dilip Barsagade, is actively replacing Kurmaghar menstrual isolation huts with spaces of dignity across Gadchiroli. Through community dialogue, the organization transforms age-old taboos into lasting health, safety, and gender equality.
In parts of tribal Maharashtra, menstruation still comes with exile. For generations, women and adolescent girls in several villages of Gadchiroli district have been forced into Kurmaghar, small, isolated huts where menstruating women are confined during their periods. Often cramped, poorly ventilated and lacking sanitation, these spaces are rooted in the belief that menstruation is impure.
Beyond Stigma: Severe Consequences
But the consequences go far beyond stigma. Women are restricted from touching food or water, girls miss school repeatedly, and delayed medical access during isolation has reportedly contributed to preventable deaths. SPARSH estimates that adolescent girls lose nearly five school days every month due to the practice, increasing long-term dropout risks and reinforcing cycles of gender inequality.
A Community-Led Approach to Change
Gadchiroli-based Society for People Action in Rural Service and Health (SPARSH) is working to change this through one of India’s most deeply community-led movements against menstrual exclusion. Founded by Dr Dilip Barsagade, SPARSH has spent over a decade working within tribal communities to challenge the Kurma tradition through dialogue, awareness, women’s leadership and rights-based advocacy. But rather than taking a confrontational approach, the organization works from within communities, engaging Gram Sabhas, traditional leaders, men, boys and women themselves in conversations around dignity, health and equality.
Rebuilding long-held cultural beliefs requires bringing everyone into the conversation, especially men, local elders, and village councils. SPARSH facilitates open discussions within Gram Sabhas to dismantle the silence and shame surrounding menstruation. By involving fathers, husbands, and community leaders alongside women, the foundation shifts menstruation from a hidden, taboo topic into a shared priority for community health and human dignity.
Culturally Sensitive Transformation
What makes SPARSH’s work unique is its culturally sensitive approach to behaviour change. The organization combines menstrual health awareness with livelihood support, adolescent leadership programs and community mobilization, recognizing that long-term social transformation cannot happen through awareness campaigns alone.
Beyond changing mindsets, addressing menstrual health directly safeguards young girls’ right to education and economic agency. When girls no longer lose vital school days each month during their periods, dropout rates decline drastically, allowing adolescent girls to complete their education. By pairing health awareness with adolescent leadership training and sustainable livelihood opportunities, SPARSH ensures that women gain the confidence and independence needed to advocate for themselves.
Mava Askana Lone: Reclaiming Spaces of Dignity
Its efforts have already sparked visible change across villages in Gadchiroli. One of the most powerful examples emerged in Sitatola village, where tribal women approached SPARSH with a radical idea: instead of isolation huts, they wanted a shared community space where all women, menstruating or not- could gather freely to discuss health, rights and village development. Together, the community built Mava Askana Lone (“My Own Home”), an inclusive women-led facility that today stands as a symbol of dignity and collective ownership.
Since 2007, SPARSH has directly impacted over 30,000 individuals across Gadchiroli through programs focused on women’s empowerment, child protection, tribal development and community leadership. Its work has also received recognition including the Savitribai Phule State Award and the Unsung Hero Award.
Restoring Dignity and Agency
But for SPARSH, the larger mission extends beyond ending a single custom. The organization believes menstrual dignity is ultimately about restoring agency, mobility and equality for women within deeply marginalized communities. Its work raises a difficult but important national question: how many harmful traditions continue to survive simply because silence has lasted longer than conversation?
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Menstrual taboos and forced isolation represent a severe violation of basic human rights and bodily autonomy. Practicing extreme isolation through Kurmaghar not only endangers women’s physical health and disrupts young girls’ education, but also perpetuates patriarchal stigma under the guise of tradition. By fostering respectful, inclusive dialogue from within tribal communities rather than imposing external mandates, SPARSH demonstrates that sustainable social reform happens when communities themselves choose dignity over silence. True progress requires dismantling regressive customs through health awareness, civic empowerment, and safe infrastructure that honors every woman’s rights.
How can civil society and local administrative bodies work together to accelerate the complete eradication of harmful practices like Kurmaghar while protecting community trust?
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