No GST on Sanitary Pads
I had written a post about this a year back. Here is an continuation of the same. So read that first before reading this
Last year during Gujarat elections, Rahul Gandhi went on giving speeches at rallies about Gabbar Singh tax. Do you all remember? My confusion was How can Gabbar sing on tax. He is not even a singer. I should have at least thought Gabbar is no more, he is dead.
Later someone enlightened me Gabbar Singh Tax is GST. GST was a landmark initiative. It took our govt just over 15 yrs to finalise it. This has several slabs. 0%, 5%, 12, 18, 28 and 40. Lower ones are meant for important good and higher ones are for unimportant and luxury goods.
Kitna GST rakhe hai re iss par.
Sardar. 18%.
The irony is bindi and sindoor are in the 0% bracket. The govt thinks it’s important to show you are not single. coz as per our moral govt, all unmarried women are considered single. Some one from govt should come and talk to me. I am struggling to find a good single unmarried girl. Govt thinks, the sanitary pad is a luxury. The High Court of Delhi pulled up the govt for charging GST in the 1st week of Nov. Since then GST has been reduced several times on several items but not on sanitary pads. The court also pulled up the Centre for not having a single woman in the 31-member GST Council. The council being all men doesn't understand women’s issue as women don’t talk.
Most women in rural areas don’t even use sanitary pads, why? because it’s expensive. In Mr Padman, Arunachalam muruganantham explains this beautifully in the below ted talk. He sees his wife is using a rag cloth, which he describes as a cloth he wont even use to clean his bike. When he asks his wife why she doesn't use sanitary pad. She says “if i use those we will not be able to drink milk”. This inspires him to make low-cost sanitary pad making machine.
Also, you women don’t go on street and protest for their basic right. Rajasthani women were willing to commit jahaur for a movie but not willing to fight for their health. #PrideMoreImportantThanHealth. It all comes back to the point I talked about earlier. Women think it’s better to suffer than to talk about their biological issues.
Start by being open about these stuff. Discuss freely with people of all gender men, women, LGBT and kids. Society will be a better place that way. Education is key to changing the attitudes to menstruation and in order to do this, we need to engage not just the women but our men and boys.
