Necessities or Wants?

By Saunvida S., FY.

India is a land of irony and contradictions. Ours is a country where we would rather spend more on our daughters' weddings than on their education and/or health.

Our government is no exception, and this is the reason that while there are no taxes on human hair waste used for wigs, 12 % Goods & Services Tax is levied on sanitary napkins! 

              

A woman after all does not choose to menstruate! 

               

A woman's menstrual cycle is not a choice. A woman bleeds once a month for around 3-5 days, approximately for 39 years of her life. Is it fair to tax her for a natural bodily activity?

When people talk about culture and traditions, menstruation comes to become a huge part of it. “If the government is committed to the all round development of all women, then they have to take care of their health as well”, said Annie Raja, a women's activist.

             

Several organisations, activists, and women’s group have criticised the government’s move to levy 12% tax on sanitary pads and for listing them as a ‘luxury’ product, while condoms, bangles, incense sticks, sindoor and bindis go tax free under the new rules of the GST which came into effect on the mid night of July 1.

            

"You exempt bindis, kajal and sindoor. But you tax sanitary napkins .There is no generosity in this. Health is more important", says Ranjana Kumar. 

         

On June 11, at the goods and service tax (GST) council meet, women across the country waited for the finance minister to say that sanitary napkins would be made tax free, but when asked the question after the meeting, his reply was "we maintain the same stand as before."

According to Manisha Shastri ,

There have also been several posts and campaign under the names ‘Don’t Tax My Period’ and ‘Lahu ka Lagaan’ on social media, explaining and arguing why this tax is problematic. However, there have also been some who don’t understand what the fuss is all about, among the many, the one post that hit the hardest was this posted by a man on Facebook:

“Wait, these girls who visit Starbucks, drink expensive alcohol, wear expensive branded make up, shop at expensive malls, have no political opinion on anything at all and don't know how taxes work. And complaining about taxed Sanitary Pads? I'm sorry, that's not how it works. If you can afford all this, a 12% taxed pad isn't really taking anything away from you. Stop crying.”

This post, along with 12% on sanitary pads and its listing as a luxury product is perhaps the best example of how little India knows and cares about its women citizens. 

       

Facts that I would like to highlight are :

1 . Menstruation is a purely biological and natural function, not a choice. 

2 .     Only 12% of women and girls in India can afford sanitary pads

1.     88% women and girls use cow dung cakes, cloth, cotton, mud, newspaper, wood, ash, leaves and etc., since they cannot afford sanitary pads.

2.      A large number of girls drop out of school after hitting puberty, as a result of being unable to use sanitary pads and having to use cotton, wood, etc., which causes great discomfort.

Issues concerning women’s safety have been made a mockery of in this country, by blaming rape on jeans, mobile phones, and almost always on the victim. The heavy taxation of sanitary pads is only another nail in the coffin. 

              

At this point, it is worth wondering, if at all women’s issues are and will be ever taken seriously, rather than being provided with baseless justifications or prescriptive solutions, mostly from men, who know and understand almost nothing of a women’s everyday experiences as beings and as citizens.

-Mahima R., SYBA