india

Updated: Sep 07, 2019 00:55 IST

Making a case for reduced use of plastic in daily lives, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi has said that women should opt for sanitary pads made of old clothes instead of the conventional ones in the market.

“Our grandmothers used clothes for menstruation, which they could destroy after a single use. Instead of using sanitary pads in which plastic and polymers are used, we must explore more options for using cloth,” said the New Delhi MP. “Apart from encouraging the Chinese import of plastic polymers, the plastic adds to environmental troubles when they land at a landfill.”

She said that, contrary to the demand to reduce GST on sanitary napkins, the government should increase it to discourage women. “Instead of the current 18% tax, the government should in fact increase it to 28%,” Lekhi said while speaking at a roundtable consultation on energy transition, subsidies, and air quality management.

Prof Suneeta Mittal, director and head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said clothes come with the problem of affordability and hygiene.

“If the cloth is washed adequately and ironed and then used, the hygiene remains uncompromised. As for single-use cloth, there is the issue of affordability for women from lower-income groups,” said Mittal. Conventional pads were an evolution from clothes as they had greater absorbing quality and helped women move about freely for long periods of time.

In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged people to avoid using plastic bags. He had also called upon technicians and entrepreneurs to look at innovative ways to recycle plastic. Certain items of single-use plastic are set to face a ban from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

(with agency inputs)