Women politicians welcome no GST on sanitary pads
New Delhi, July 22 : Women politicians, cutting across party lines, have welcomed the government's decision on scrapping GST on sanitary napkins.
Reactions flowed in from many women politicians after Finance minister Piyush Goyal announced that sanitary pads are now 100 percent exempt from tax.
"In a remarkable move, Piyush Goyal during the 28th GST Council Meet announced to exempt Sanitary Napkins from the GST. Indeed, this will give the required thrust to our Menstrual Hygiene initiatives and will transform lives of many Women," Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi tweeted.
Sanitary pads, which were initially taxed at 18 per cent, were brought down to 12 per cent under GST that was launched in July 2017. Gandhi, however earlier had justified the imposed tax saying that scrapping it would kill the indigenous pad makers.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev who last year had launched an online petition with Change.org demanding total removal of taxes on pads welcomed the government's move saying that it is a victory of more than four lakh citizens who had signed it.
"Some journeys take longer than others. And so here we are bearing the victory torch a year after our campaign 'tax free wings. This is monumental in the step towards improving the accessibility, availability and affordability of the product to millions of women," Dev said.
Union Textile minister Smriti Irani too tweeted thanking the Finance Minister for exempting sanitary napkins from GST.
"A welcome step towards encouraging menstrual hygiene among young girls and women. Good and Simple GST," she wrote.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
