If twitter could be counted as a place, that’s where I was when government’s decision to exempt sanitary napkins from GST was made public. Within minutes the social media platform went into overdrive. Many known faces, including ministers in the current government, tweeted about how the decision would ‘empower’ women. How it would ensure menstrual hygiene among a large number of women.

Given the support the many campaigns against this tax have received in the last one year, this flood of reactions is no surprise. But touting this rate cut as ‘empowering’ women is a bit of a stretch. Actually, it’s too much of a stretch.

Jury is already out on whether the overall price may see a significant difference after the tax exemption (which applies only on the final product; inputs (raw materials) are still taxed). GST exemption for sanitary napkins means that the input tax credit would now not be available to the manufacturer. Experts believe that while prices may fall due to the rate cut, the reduction may not be significant the input tax credit issue may result in manufacturers increasing the overall price of the product. So, in reality the customer may not see a price drop of 12 per cent on a pack of napkins.

Let’s assume that MRPs of sanitary napkins will remain unaffected. In that case, would this exemption really translate into more women using sanitary products?

Depending on brand, a pack of 10 ultra napkins may cost Rs 70-90. Tax exemption may result in reduction in its price by 8-10 Rs. The cheaper the product, the lower this benefit. In fact, for some basic napkins (costing 20-30 rupees) the difference in cost may be negligible.

The question here is not of savings but whether this reduction in prices would be enough to bring these products in reach of women who don’t use sanitary napkins because of cost issues: The women from the most fragile financial sections. These are the ones most susceptible to use unhygienic methods because (1) They can’t spend Rs 20-30 a month on something that’s of no use to other members of the family (2) they aren’t aware how essential menstrual hygiene is (3) they don’t even know how sanitary products can make tackling periods easy

The reality is, this group may find it difficult to spare money for sanitary napkins even after the tax exemption. And this is where the real challenge of ensuring menstrual hygiene for all women lies.

The drop in prices is so negligible that it would hardly make any difference for women who stay away from sanitary products because of their costs. The ones who use costly branded napkins (and who’ll benefit the most from this tax exemption) are anyway less likely to stop using these only because their period-expenditure increased by 8-10 rupees.

Any kind of drop in costs is always welcomed by customers but overstretching the rate cut to claim victory (by campaigners), and a step towards women empowerment (by the government) will take the focus away from real problem: sanitary napkins may still be out of reach of women who need cheaper sanitary products the most.

First Published:Jul 22, 2018 12:11 PM IST