New Delhi, Jan. 31 -- The right to menstrual hygiene is a part of the right to life under the Constitution's Article 21, the Supreme Court said on Friday, and issued a series of directions to ensure functional toilets, sanitary napkins, and menstrual support systems in every school across the country. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the absence of "gender-segregated toilets and lack of access to menstrual absorbents" strips girls of "dignity, privacy, equality and meaningful access to education." It added that menstrual health cannot remain a matter of charity or policy discretion. The bench said it flows directly from constitutional guarantees. The bench passed the order on a plea seeking direction to the Union government to ensure free sanitary pads and separate toilets for girl students in classes 6 to 12 in government-aided schools. It ordered that all schools, whether private or state-run, must ensure adequate toilets, sanitary napkins, water, and soap for hand washing, and spare uniforms for all girl students. The bench formulated and answered core questions around equality, dignity, privacy, and education. It asked whether the unavailability of separate toilets for girls and non-access to menstrual hygiene products violated the right to equality under the Constitution's Article 14, the right to life and dignity under Article 21, and the right to free and compulsory education under Article 21A and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. It answered the questions in the affirmative. The bench said the inaccessibility of menstrual hygiene management "undermined the dignity of the girl child" and excluded her from "equal participation." It added equality expresses itself through the right to participate on equal terms....