Biodegradable sanitary pad: DAN welcomes move, also calls for removing tax on STs
On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Government of India launched a biodegradable sanitary pad ‘Suvidha’ priced at Rs 2.50 per pad which will be available at Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi centres. The oxo-biodegradable sanitary pads will be available in packs of four across 3,200 centres and each pack will be priced at Rs 10. The objective behind this initiative is to ensure ‘Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha’ for the underprivileged women.
The launch is in line with the aim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make quality drugs available at affordable prices to the common people.
Further to the announcement, the Ministry of Health and other eminent personalities took to Twitter to praise the initiative. A few of them are mentioned below:
Ministry of Health #Suvidha sanitary napkins which are available at Rs. 2.50 per pad, enable women maintain #menstrualhygiene without harming nature. #SwasthaBharat #AyushmanBharat #SafePeriods @JPNadda @AshwiniKChoubey @AnupriyaSPatel. pic.twitter.com/c19Z5ad1Ou
CMO Maharashtra #InternationalWomensDay :
CM @Dev_Fadnavis launched GoM’s Asmita Scheme for providing sanitary napkins at an affordable cost in rural Maharashtra. Minister @Pankajamunde , Mahadev Jankar, Vidya Thakur, Dadaji Bhuse and @akshaykumar were present. pic.twitter.com/02RyaiykHq
Dentsu Aegis Network’s POV
Commenting on the launch, Rajni Menon, Chairperson, Dentsu Aegis Network Woman’s Council India and CEO, Carat, said, “While I welcome the Government’s move to offer bio-degradable sanitary napkins at a low cost, there are still quite a number of issues with these that come to mind. Firstly, the quality of the pads needs to be maintained consistently and with so many of our low cost initiatives failing to deliver to that promise, this is one which I will wait and watch. Especially because this has a direct effect on women’s health. Secondly, I actually do not hold on to the belief that reusable cloth napkins are bad. With reusable cloth napkins in designer attire making its way into circulation, one would wonder at the sensibility of introducing low cost disposable sanitary napkins. Yes, the one thing that the sanitary napkins provide is freedom or mobility and this is why they caught on to the dialogue of women’s empowerment because it enables the woman to not let the monthly flow hold her back from her day to day activities. Abolishing tax on STs and making good quality ones more affordable would have been a better idea if it was about making sanitary napkins available to a larger set of women in India.”
In order to recognise its women workforce, Dentsu Aegis Network had launched the DAN Women’s Council in February 2016. The DAN Women’s Council primarily helps the agency’s female employees on a pan-India basis to grow and realise their potential based on merit, within the senior organisational hierarchy, through a structured mentoring process which would be safe as well as equal. The Council is chaired by Rajni Menon.
Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha
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