{"id":3063,"date":"2016-03-17T19:57:39","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T14:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2016-03-17T19:57:39","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T14:27:39","slug":"sanitary-napkins-zero-gst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3063","title":{"rendered":"Zero GST Has Made Sanitary Napkins Cheaper But Are They Safer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A<\/span><\/p> few days ago, at the 28th meeting of the GST Council, finance minister Piyush Goyal announced that <\/span>sanitary pads would now be tax-free<\/span><\/a>. At least someone in the government seems to be listening. This exemption came after a year of protests, petitions, and outrage over sanitary products \u2013 including <\/span>sanitary pads<\/span><\/a>, towels, and tampons \u2013 attracting a 12 per cent tax and being branded as \u201cluxury products\u201d instead of being considered essential items, like <\/span>condoms<\/span><\/a>. Because, you know, most of us can\u2019t help menstruating. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nImmediately after the decision, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble \u2013 the two brands that dominate the Indian sanitary pad market \u2013 promised a two to three per cent price cut, <\/span>claiming <\/span><\/a>that they were \u201ccommitted to pass on the GST rate reduction to consumers\u201d. <\/span>Activists hailed it as a major victory<\/span><\/a>, adding that the tax exemption will make sanitary pads affordable and \u201chelp girls and women to stay in school, their jobs, to practise proper menstrual hygiene\u201d.<\/span>\n\nThe decision and the restless campaigning is welcome \u2013 if for no other reason than fostering a conversation around <\/span>menstruation<\/span><\/a>, a topic that we largely consider taboo. When was the last time, say, that you asked your brother or <\/span>father<\/span><\/a> to buy you a pack of XL pads? Unlike sanitary pads that are always wrapped in brown or black bags, menstrual hygiene is thankfully not under the covers anymore. <\/span>\n\nBut in a country where only <\/span>12 per cent of menstruating women<\/span><\/a> can afford to use sanitary pads, does tax exemption really solve the glaring problem of menstrual hygiene? <\/span>\n

Along with being chemically mysterious, sanitary pads are also environmentally taxing.<\/blockquote>\nOn an average, an Indian woman will use about <\/span>17,000 sanitary pads <\/span><\/a>in a lifetime. Yet we have very zero idea about the life cycle of a pad. While every sanitary pad advertisement cheerily proclaims \u201ceight- to 24-hour protection\u201d, misleading consumers into believing that they can be used for that long, pads in reality, should ideally be changed every<\/span> three hours<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nThis glaring absence of awareness about menstrual hygiene also stems from the fact that in India, sanitary pads don\u2019t fall under the <\/span>medical goods category<\/span><\/a> yet. This allows manufacturers massive leeway to not have to disclose the number and kind of chemicals used in the pads. With no conclusive metric of the acceptable pH level of different pads, it remains unknown whether sanitary pads are even hygienic in the first place.<\/span>\n\nWhen I bring up these subjects in conversation with liberal, educated, and <\/span>\u201cwoke\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0people, I could be speaking gibberish for all they care. Even when I tell them that in India, the safety of a sanitary pad is tested against standards that <\/span>haven\u2019t been updated since 1980<\/span><\/a>. These basic tests are only equipped to confirm whether the pad works and not underline if it is harmful. Very few women in our country are discussing the cocktail of chemicals in our pads \u2013 dioxin, furan, pesticides\u00a0\u2013 and instead are turning a blind eye to its perils.<\/span>\n\nAlong with being chemically mysterious, sanitary pads are also environmentally taxing. <\/span>Over a billion sanitary pads<\/span><\/a> make their way to landfills and fields every month. For something that is disposable, it generates a staggering amount of non-biodegradable waste that takes years to break down. What\u2019s even worse is that most women aren\u2019t taught eco-friendly ways to dispose used pads, leading to them clubbing it with regular waste, putting waste workers at a massive health risk. It\u2019s very far from a \u201chygiene product\u201d for those folks.<\/span>\n\nFor most women who find it difficult to imagine their periods without pads, cost and features remain the top priority. The GST exemption too aims to serve this mentality. It claims to give women access to a cheaper pad, but not necessarily a better one. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s great that our elected representatives no longer think of a normal bodily function as a luxury. We should do our bit and use this opportunity to delve further into the discussion, to ask the right questions, to interrogate whether a pad that claims to be \u201ceco-friendly\u201d actually lives up to its promise. It is now up to us to begin a campaign to make manufacturing safety guidelines mandatory. It is now time to ask if the pad you\u2019re about to use for five days isn\u2019t harming your body. <\/span>\n\nEdited by Poulomi Das<\/span><\/i>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most women who find it difficult to imagine their periods without sanitary pads, cost and features remain the top priority. The GST exemption too aims to serve this mentality. But we should be focusing on, is whether the pad you use for five days a month is harming your body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":3064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[6005,2523,4174,6006,6007,6008],"class_list":["post-3063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","tag-chemicals","tag-gst","tag-sanitary-napkins","tag-sanitary-pads","tag-taxes","tag-zero-gst"],"yoast_head":"\nZero GST Has Made Sanitary Napkins Cheaper But Are They Safer?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For most women who find it difficult to imagine their periods without sanitary pads, cost and features remain the top priority. The GST exemption too aims to serve this mentality. 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