No change in GST rate on sanitary pad despite appeals, rue activists

The revamped tax structure has only brought more disappointments as sanitary napkins continue to remain in the 12 per cent tax bracket. 

The online petition floated earlier this year by Member of Parliament Sushmita Dev, pointed out, “Data in the public domain show that only about 12 per cent of the 355 million women use sanitary napkins. In India, an estimated 70 per cent of women cannot afford sanitary napkins.” 

The petition goes on, “It is bound to have an impact on attendance of girls in schools, adding impetus to greater women participation in our work force which is just a meagre 21.9 per cent. Affordability, ease of availability and accessibility need to be at the forefront of this battle.” Many of them feel that this is unfair to women. “There are products like condoms, bangles, deodorants and detergent that come under zero per cent slab but something as basic as sanitary pad continues to be out of reach for many,” pointed out Richa Prasad, who has signed the petition earlier. She said, “After so much of criticism last time, we only hoped that the tax would be reduced but that has not happened.” 

There are many women in rural area, who still fail to have access to safe menstrual hygiene. Angelin Prince, who also initiated an online drive, said, “We work closely with women with underprivileged background. They continue to use cloths. Most of them have only two cloth materials and they wear one throughout the day. For them pads are nothing but expenditure,” she said, adding, “We will continue to do our bit to reach out to the government.”