This Article is From Jul 11, 2017

SFI, AIDWA Send Sanitary Napkins To Finance Minister, Demand Withdrawal Of GST On Pads

Scores of activists of Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Democratic Womens' Association (AIDWA) sent sanitary napkins to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley demanding the immediate withdrawal of GST on sanitary napkins to mark the beginning of the All India Campaign "Bleed Without Fear, Bleed without Tax".

SFI, AIDWA Send Sanitary Napkins To Finance Minister, Demand Withdrawal Of GST On Pads

SFI And AIDWA Send Sanitary Napkins To Finance Minister

New Delhi: Scores of activists of Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Democratic Womens' Association (AIDWA) sent sanitary napkins to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley demanding the immediate withdrawal of GST on sanitary napkins to mark the beginning of the All India Campaign  "Bleed Without Fear, Bleed without Tax". Sanitary pads are considered as luxury items and taxed accordingly, when the reality is that these are utter necessity of a woman for healthy life. Earlier SFI had demanded an immediate withdrawal of the added taxation on sanitary napkins and had asked the government to ensure the maximum reach of the menstrual protection tools in lowest prices.

In a study by AC Nielsen published in the International Research Journal of Social Sciences shows that among woman who does not use sanitary pads Reproductive Tract Infection (RTI) is 70% more common than those who have the access to it. The gynecologists involved in this study also claim the use of tampons can reduce the risk of cervical cancer and many more diseases related to the reproductive system. But the ground reality of Indian menstrual health is shocking and disturbing. 

According to the same study only 12% of total woman in their menstrual age use sanitary napkins, over 88% depend on the alternative unhygienic ways like unsanitised clothes, ashes and husk sand. This leads to a decline in productivity by 31%, where they miss average 2.2 days in their workplace.

In North India over 30% of girls stopped going to school after the start of their menstrual cycle due to the lack of adequate sanitary products. 83% of these girl said that their family cannot afford sanitary pads, added  to that there are problems of social taboo where even talking about Periods, free movement during these days are restricted with notion of purity and pollution . Now the further inflation in the prices will push away many more poor women and girls of this country from a healthy reproductive health.

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