Bhopal: Hundreds of women from all age groups in Madhya Pradesh are penning down their messages on sanitary napkins to voice their dissent against the 12% GST on ‘essential hygiene item’.
It all started in Gwalior earlier this month when a group of volunteer activists came together and encouraged women to participate in this unique campaign. The campaign aims to make women aware about menstrual hygiene and also raise voice against Centre’s move to tax the product. The volunteers believe it should be either subsidized or taxed at nominal prices.
One of them, Harimohan Bhasneria, told News18 that menstrual hygiene is a serious issue in Madhya Pradesh as elsewhere in India so they decided to use social media to voice against the high taxes levied on the sanitary napkins.
“We used social media and personal groups to propagate this campaign. It’s now a nationwide campaign with people from different states joining in,” he said. The activist said that he is being flooded with calls from physicians who wish to extend support to this campaign.
Sanitary pads which earlier attracted 5% VAT have been placed under 12% tax in GST, kicking up furor from across the country.
“Volunteers from across the nation have agreed to gather at New Delhi on March when we would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hand him a memorandum,” said the Gwalior-based volunteer activist working on social issues. The activists want to share all these messages with the Prime Minister which also have the contact numbers of the women concerned if “anyone wants to cross check the veracity of the campaign.”
One of the physicians associated with the campaign, Dr Shweta Sahay, MD (Medicine) from Gwalior told News18 that unhygienic menstrual practices result in a number of diseases in women. Adding another perspective to the health issue, Dr Sahay claimed that women from low income groups and in rural areas end up losing working hours as they are forced to stay at home because they can’t afford sanitary napkins.
“The awareness on the menstrual hygiene is also low,” she said.
Rolly Shivhare, a prominent woman activist from Bhopal, claimed that Centre, it seems, is driven by the very idea of male dominated society as it exempts bindi and make-up items from GST and taxes sanitary pads heavily which are actually way more important for the hygiene of thousands of women. “They want women to look sanskari but don’t give a damn about their health and hygiene,” she said.
“With cotton getting costlier, women who can’t afford sanitary pads are increasingly going for synthetic fabric leading to more health complications,” she claimed demanding availability of these pads at nominal rates at ration shops to promote usages. Shivhare said that because menstruation is a taboo, many women also don’t choose to speak about it openly.
Comments
0 comment