Celebrities Tweet Arun Jaitley, Want Sanitary Napkins To Be Tax-Free

New Delhi: In an Internet movement spearheaded by an NGO called She Says, netizens are writing to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and asking him to abolish the tax on women's sanitary products. The idea behind the campaign is to get the minister to exempt sanitary napkins from the Goods and Services Tax system, given that menstruation is a natural process and these products are a necessity, not a luxury. Using the hashtag #LahuKaLagaan, She Says points out in its campaign that tax-free sanitary napkins are essential as most Indian women still don't use sanitary napkins - 80% cannot afford them while 19% lack information, and 2% don't have access to them.
 

Dear @poonam_mahajan, you have been a stellar advocate for women. Do support our campaign #LahuKaLagaan to make sanitary napkins tax-free pic.twitter.com/3mr3uooH1a

- SheSays (@SheSaysIndia) April 18, 2017

A number of comedians and netizens took up the cause immediately and started tweeting Mr Jaitley to stop #LahuKaLagaan, which roughly translates to tax on bleeding

Cyrus Broacha was one of the first to take up the cause
 

@arunjaitley #LahuKaLagaan maaf karo.Please remove the tax on Sanitary Napkins. With @SheSaysIndia & @kunalvijayakar pic.twitter.com/a8ZeQsmcES

- Cyrus Broacha (@BoredBroacha) April 18, 2017

Mallika Dua explains it in plain speak:
 

Hi @arunjaitley #LahuKaLagaan pic.twitter.com/gqsf6GnaHt

- Mallika Dua (@MallikaDua) April 18, 2017

Rohan Joshi also lent his support to the cause
 

Dear @arunjaitley please exempt sanitary napkins from GST, a humble request #LahuKaLagaan pic.twitter.com/2kyyhU4dxB

- Rohan (@mojorojo) April 18, 2017

As did Kaneez Surka and Kanan Gill
 

Hey @arunjaitley please remove taxes from sanitary napkins. Thanks for having our backs. #LahuKaLagaan @SheSaysIndia pic.twitter.com/EUzhgblYFX

- Kaneez Surka (@kaneezsurka) April 18, 2017

Friends, sanitary napkins should be free under GST, plz tweet to @arunjaitley and make ur voice heard #LahuKaLagaan @SheSaysIndia

- Kanan Gill (@KananGill) April 18, 2017

Comedy collective Girliyapa used some humour to get the point across
 

Sanitary napkins are not luxury, they are necessity.
Make Sanitary Napkins Tax-free! @arunjaitley @SheSaysIndia #LahuKaLagaan pic.twitter.com/iIIpMiKnT1

- Girliyapa (@Girliyapa) April 18, 2017

Anu Menon and Atul Khatri explain in their videos
 

Dear @arunjaitley,
Our lives are taxing enough without having to be taxed for sanitary napkins. #LahuKaLagaan @SheSaysIndia pic.twitter.com/vMjWYsmUWV

- Anu Menon (@ExLolaKutty) April 18, 2017

Dear @arunjaitley Sir please abolish proposed GST on sanitary napkins @SheSaysIndia #LahuKaLagaan pic.twitter.com/K6UWIqibBv

- Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) April 18, 2017

Soon, Bollywood also started tweeting to Mr Jaitley
 

Morning @arunjaitley
sanitary napkins are a necessity not a luxury &more women should be able to afford them minus GST-pl#LahuKaLagaan pic.twitter.com/EzWx1FOwYX

- Aditi Rao Hydari (@aditiraohydari) April 19, 2017

The Lahu Ka Lagaan campaign comes just days after Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi wrote to Mr Jaitley, asking him provide 100 per cent tax exemption for eco-friendly and bio-degradable sanitary napkins under GST, according to PTI reports.

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