the goan I network
MARGAO
Goa Mahila Congress on Friday threw a gauntlet at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to treat ‘sanitary pad’ as a health device and do away with the 12 per cent GST so that the poorest of the poor have an access to sanitary napkins.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not stop giving the slogan Beti Padao, Beti Bachao. Mere speeches will not help. We Mahila Congress has shown the way by bringing awareness amongst women on the use of sanitary napkins. The time has now come for the PM to remove the 12 per cent GST on sanitary napkins”, stated mahila Congress vice-president Beena Naik as Mahila Congress led by president Pratima Coutinho and workers went round slums and basties of Fakir bandh on the outskirts of Margao to distribute sanitary napkins coinciding with women’s day.
Beena told the media that unless the Modi government treats sanitary pads as a health device, the 12 per cent GST on sanitary napkins will keep women away from using it. “Do away with the GST and make sanitary pads affordable for the womenfolk,” she demanded, even as she asked Health Minister Viswajit Rane to install sanitary pads vending machines and incinerators at hospitals across the state.
Addressing the media, Mahila Congress Chief Pratima Coutinho said the objective behind the exercise of distributing sanitary pads in the slums is to reach out to the women and convince them to use the sanitary pads and stay away from diseases. “We have been successful in our exercise as evident by the fact that Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte has announced plans to install vending machines in the state,” she said.
Pratima reiterated her demand that the government make available sanitary pads at subsidised rates.
Incidentally, a couple of women members were hesitant to accept the sanitary napkins in full media glare, with a woman saying that the Mahila Congress could have handed over the pads without publicity.
