Stop Taxing my Periods — this was the slogan chanted by several women, from different walks of life, who gathered at Valluvar Kottam to protest against the 12% Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on sanitary napkins.
Some were spotted holding a giant replica of a sanitary pad, while the others were holding placards voicing their dissent over the taxation.
“Menstruation is an important issue, but has not received the importance it ideally should,” pointed out Suganya Saminathan, member of Dhagam Foundation, one of the organisers of the protest.
The GST levied on sanitary napkins has been a point of contention from the time it was rolled out on July 1 and the issue has triggered several debates and discussions.
“It is only now that there has been an increasing awareness about taxation on sanitary napkins. But what is of concern is that when items such as kohl, kumkum and contraceptives are exempt from taxation but sanitary napkin is not. It is an essential commodity for women, but we are forced to pay a high price to buy one,” said Kavya Menon from the Collective for Sustainable Menstruation.
Nil tax demanded
The women demanded nil taxation on the product and that the State take steps to provide free and good quality napkins to schoolgirls. “There are still many schools that treat menstruation as a hush-hush affair and do not provide napkins to students. We need more discussions and awareness about it,” Ms. Suganya added. What was meant to be an awareness campaign became a protest after policemen deployed at the venue allegedly prevented the protesters from displaying posters.
