© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
After a year of protests and campaigns, the government on Saturday decided to exempt sanitary napkins from the ambit of Goods and Service Tax (GST). As the GST council met in New Delhi for a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, the decision to remove the 12 per cent tax on the menstrual hygiene product was announced.
The news was welcomed by people on social media and it got everyone talking — from politicians to celebrities. While many thanked the government for finally withdrawing the tax for which they received much flak online, others argued it was only justified and long overdue, stressing it should have happened earlier. Some also said the people who fought for the cause should be thanked and not the government. A few users online also questioned why the government decided to backflip when for months they tried to explain the tax was a necessity.
Here’s people reacted to the decision on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/gunjakapoor/status/1020684568641327106
https://twitter.com/moumita03/status/1020684829761957893
https://twitter.com/JaiHindKiSenaa/status/1020673320159592448
https://twitter.com/indiantweeter/status/1020653263002071046
https://twitter.com/anushkaapandey/status/1020683544346218496
https://twitter.com/keya_s14/status/1020676340113174528
https://twitter.com/Rajvenka/status/1020683510095360001
https://twitter.com/LaVenusVida/status/1020668899535310848
https://twitter.com/deepsealioness/status/1020667865060421633
Apart from sanitary napkins, the GST Council also declared stone/marble/wood idols, rakhis, sal leaves, phulbhari jhadu to be exempted from GST. There will also be a rate cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent on items such as lithium-ion batteries, vacuum cleaners, domestic electrical appliances, paints and varnishes, water coolers, articles such as scents, perfumes, cosmetics. The GST rate cuts announced today will be effective from July 27.
