Time for Your Vaginas to Rejoice, No More Tax Down Under

Sanitary napkins exempted from GST on Saturday night.

Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint) 

It is turning out to be a happy Saturday for women as the government announced that it is waiving off taxes on sanitary napkins.

Sanitary napkins were taxed at 12%, counting it among ‘luxury items’. Because of its high price, it remained an item of luxury for millions of women in India.

As a result during the menstruation days, women had to resort to anything from a polythene bag to leaves to mud and sometimes unhygienic cloth. Here are some statistics to suggest how this ruling could be landmark in terms of women’s menstrual health:

200 million girls in India lack awareness about menstrual hygiene and its associated health practices. 88% of menstruating women use old fabric, rags, sand, ash, wood shavings, newspapers, dried leaves, hay and plastic, instead of a sanitary pad.

Dasra report, 2016

When women are given the inexpensive means to deal with their periods – to use anything that they can lay their hands on – it causes irreparable damage to their health. What it further perpetuates is a cycle of bad health practice: menstrual knowledge is generally imparted from the mother to her daughter. If the mother practices harmful menstrual health practice, chances are that the daughter will imbibe it as the gospel’s word.

After relentless efforts by women from across cultures, sectors, economic backgrounds, the government has finally decided to pay heed to their demands. In a historic step, they have eliminated tax from the napkins.

Tax Free Wings!

Finally, no #LahuKaLagaan

Do send us your thoughts about this wavier in the comments section below.