Women members of Vichardhara Grami Vikas Sanstha said sanitary pads should be exempted from taxes.
Women members of the Vichardhara Grami Vikas Sanstha from Latur district today launched a hunger strike at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai, demanding that sanitary napkins be made tax-free.
"We will not withdraw the stir till the sanitary pads are excluded from the purview of GST," Chhaya Kakde of the NGO told reporters.
"We have also written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with our demand," she said.
Sanitary napkins are set to be taxed at 12 per cent under the GST regime.
The women's wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) recently launched a signature campaign to press for its demand of making sanitary pads tax-free.
"Sanitary pads should be completely exempted from taxes because from a woman's point of view, they are very important for their health," NCP women's wing president Chitra Wagh had told reporters.
She added, "The government making other things tax-free while neglecting the health of women is a very serious issue."
Ms Wagh said her party launched a campaign to seek tax-free status for the feminine hygiene product.
She also added that "Women need to be provided sanitary pads at affordable rates. The Centre should keep sanitary napkins out of the tax net."