Mr. Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister
Government Of India
SUBJECT: TAX FREE SANITARY NAPKINS.
RESPECTED Sir,
I compliment you to take a revolutionary step to apply the Goods and Services Tax on the theme ONE Nation, ONE TAX but apart from this I would like to bring your kind notice in the context of 12% GST on Sanitary Napkins.
Menstrual bleeding is a natural process and not a voluntary act. Every woman on this earth menstruates from the ages of 12 to 51. Without this human generation can’t move as for the reproduction it’s a fundamental step. On an average, a woman spends approximately 65 days menstruating ever year. In India 20% girls are leaving or dropping their school after they starts menstruate. While only 12 per cent of India’s 355 million women use sanitary napkins because they don’t have money to buy sanitary napkins. Incidents of Reproductive Tract Infection are 70 per cent more common among these women.
I have been conducting menstrual hygiene awareness workshop and sessions by PPT, live experiences, storytelling and short movie ‘Breaking The Silence’, ‘Stop Shame’, short plays, nukads for educating and helping girls and women to avoid the myths and taboos about menstruation, clarify the concept and importance of bleed, revalue menstruation as a clean and natural biological process. During these workshops I came to know that females are using very unhygienic means to absorb the blood like old dirty clothes, sacks, ashes and husk sand as a sanitary option. Even the cloth which they are using is not used to dry in sunlight.
By taxing these basic commodities, and putting those in the ‘luxury’ category, is encouraging discrimination based on sex and making it difficult for women to access sanitary options due to cost. This is unacceptable given that the right to sanitation and healthy life is a fundamentally guaranteed right under the Constitution of India. Beyond affordability, Articles 14, 15, 21, and 47 of The Constitution of India, guarantees Equality before the Law, Prohibits Discrimination based on Sex and Propagates States to exercise their Right to Improve the Standard of Living of Its Citizens’.
When contraceptive Pills, condoms, agriculture-dairy products, egg, tea, coffee etc. are tax free then why not Sanitary Napkins which is used on an average only 5 days in a month ? Sir tax on the Sanitary Napkins will demotivate women towards their health safety. That’s why we humbly request to You Sir that kindly remove GST from sanitary Napkins.
For the Swachh Bharat Mission of the government tax free sanitary napkins will be milestone for the females. It will also motivate females to use it for their healthy life.#NoGSTonSanitaryNapkin, #TaxFreeSanitaryNapkins