The need of the hour is to take the first step and subsidize menstrual hygiene products and remove the 13% VAT on them. Even the import taxes on raw materials required to manufacture period products need to be relaxed from extra taxation so as to promote a greater market for locally manufactured menstruation products.

Menstruation, a monthly biological phenomenon that occurs among women, causes mild to severe stomach cramps. Women seek comfort and warmth during their period days because the stomach cramps cannot be alleviated with painkillers. Nevertheless, women go through their everyday schedule like everything is Ok even when they are bleeding from their vaginas.

The banishment of bleeding women and girls to cattle shed or makeshift hut best defines the custom of Chaupadi. The practice is extensively followed in the Far west region of the country as women and girls on period are considered impure. The new law that criminalizes Chaupadi, which will come into effect in a year’s time, stipulates a three-month jail sentence or a Rs 3,000 fine, or both, for anyone forcing a woman to follow the custom.

MILAN, April 2: Italy could soon become the first Western country to offer paid “menstrual leave” to female workers.

JUMLA, Dec 11: A rural village in the far-western region has been declared free of a traditional practise related to women's menstrual cycle at the initiative taken by the women in the village.