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Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Code of conduct for civil servants: A review

 

While the being a civil servant comes with many perks and benefits, it also brings with it its own limitations and various rules surrounding an officer's conduct.

Since 2018, over 10 lakh candidates have applied each year to sit in the Civil Service Aptitude Test (C-SAT). This year, 11.52 lakh candidates applied, and after three rounds of examinations, 933 were finally selected.

While the craze to enter the civil services was slightly tempered post-liberalisation, over the past decade it is well and truly back. Candidates often spend years and lakhs of rupees in coaching, attempting to crack the extremely competitive exam. Of late, several successful candidates have even appeared for the exams after a few years in the private sector.

Today, CSE results attract serious media scrutiny, with toppers even making national news. However, getting selected is just the beginning of one’s life in service – a life which will have several limitations as per law.

We list here some basic rules a civil servant needs to follow, and the limitations they are placed under.

First, some details about the civil services. 

Successful applicants can join a number of services depending on their rank and personal preferences.

There are three All India Services – the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service – which are selected by the central government with officers allotted to various state cadres. The Centre then gets a certain percentage of officers from each state on central deputation. These bureaucrats work directly for the Centre. All India Services are governed by Article 312 of the Constitution of India.

Other services are called Central Civil Services. These services are under the central government itself with no state cadre system. They include services such as the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Revenue Service, Customs and Central Excise Service and several others.

Two sets of largely overlapping rules.

There are two sets of rules for civil servants – one for All India Services and the other for Central Civil Services. Specially designed Conduct Rules govern an officer’s behaviour and conduct.

The AIS Conduct Rules, 1968 and CCS Conduct Rules, 1964 are mostly similar. These were framed based on recommendations from a committee constituted by then Minister of Home Affairs Lal Bahadur Shashtri in 1962. This Committee on Prevention of Corruption was headed by K Santhanam, Member of Rajya Sabha (who also happenned to be a former editor of The Indian Express).

Some rules are vague, some more specific.

The Conduct Rules cover a wide range of issues, from the ambiguous idea of personal integrity to more specific actions.

For instance, Rule 3(1) states that “Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service.” This rule is purposefully vague and can be applied to individuals in cases of any kind of wrongdoing, even if the allegations are not covered under any more specific rules. For example, while promotion of casteism is not covered under any specific Conduct Rules, casteist behaviour can be interpreted as “unbecoming of a member of the Service” under Rule 3(1).

On the other hand, Rule 4(1) of the AIS Conduct Rules is more specific. It states, “No member of the Service shall use his position or influence directly or indirectly to secure employment for any member of his family with any private undertaking or Non- Government Organisation.”

Members not allowed to be part of, assist political parties.

Rule 5(1) states, “No member of the Service shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organization which takes part in politics, nor shall he take part in, or subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or political activity.”

5(4) states, “No member of the Service shall canvas or otherwise interfere with, or use his influence in connection with, or take part in, an election to any legislature or local authority.”

While members can hold personal political beliefs, these rules restrict the degree to which they can act on them.

Similar restrictions also there on expressing personal opinion.

Rule 7 of AIS Rules states, “No member of the Service shall, in any radio broadcast or communication over any public media or in any document published anonymously, pseudonymously or in his own name or in the name of any other person or in any communication to the press or in any public utterance, make any statement of fact or opinion,— Which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central Government or a State Government; or which is capable of embarrassing the relations between the Central Government and any State Government; or which is capable of embarrassing the relations between the Central Government and the Government of any Foreign State.”

However, civil servants are allowed to express their opinion on official files and other official documents and can even talk to the media during field postings. What they can tell the media, though, is restricted to their job or some specific event/issue. Personal beliefs on wider issues are not to be aired.

Taking dowry is banned but seemingly common.

Dowry is an evil which afflicts all of society. Civil servants are no exception.

Often, once selected to the services, officers receive numerous marriage offers. Influential families, including big political ones, covet civil servants as husbands for their daughters and are willing to pay a big price to win their hand in marriage. A civil servant’s job security, status and perks received plays a major role in inflating dowry demands. Officials from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) even receive queries to provide contact details of candidates selected.

At the same time, civil servants and their families too are willing to receive a big dowry.

But as far as rules are concerned, both giving and receiving dowry is strictly prohibited. Rule 11 (1-A) of the AIS Rules on “Giving or taking of dowry” states, “No member of the Service shall— (i) give or take or abet the giving or taking of dowry; or (ii) demand, directly or indirectly, from the parents or guardian of a bride or bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry.”

In fact, any “big” gift a civil servant receives needs to be reported.

Rule 11(1) states, “A member of the service may accept gifts from his near relatives or from his personal friends having no official dealings with them, on occasions such as wedding, anniversaries, funerals and religious functions when the making of gifts is in conformity with the prevailing religious and social practice, but he shall make a report to the Government if the value of such gift exceeds Rs.25,000.”

The threshold of Rs 25,000 was last fixed in 2015.

Rules amended and added from time to time.

While Conduct Rules penned in the 1960s are still being followed, these are never static, with updates made from time to time.

For instance, with regard to Rule 5(1), the government, from time to time, determines whether a particular organisation is political or not. Interestingly, such clarifications have been repeatedly made about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with rules stating that its activities are political in nature. Notably, while the RSS itself claims to be non-political, even BJP governments at the Centre have not changed its categorisation.

The Narendra Modi government added a few sub-rules in August 2014. For instance, the following was added to the Conduct Rules: “Every member of the Service shall maintain:- high ethical standards, integrity and honesty; political neutrality; accountability and transparency; responsiveness to the public, particularly to the weaker section; courtesy and good behavior with the public” among other things.

The Modi government also added that “Every member of the Service shall maintain integrity in public service; take decisions solely in public interest and use or cause to use public resources efficiently, effectively and economically; declare any private interests relating to his public duties and take steps to resolve any conflicts in a way that protects the public interest; not place himself under any financial or other obligations to any individual or organisation which may influence him in the performance of his official duties; not misuse his position as civil servant and not take decisions in order to derive financial or material benefits for himself, his family or his friends; act with fairness and impartiality and not discriminate against anyone, particularly the poor and the under-privileged sections of society; perform and discharge his duties with the highest degree of professionalism and dedication to the best of his abilities”.

Similarly, when allegations were made that only orally orders were being issued to subordinate officials, in 1979, the Janata Party government added that, “The direction of the official superior shall ordinarily be in writing. Where the issue of oral direction becomes unavoidable, the official superior shall confirm it in writing immediately thereafter.”

In 1998, the United Front government added that “No member of the Service shall employ to work any child below the age of 14 years.”

Officers are covered under the rules as soon they join training.

As soon as candidates are allotted a particular service and join training which is part of their probation period, they become members of that service and are thus covered by these rules. There are also certain rules which continue to apply post retirement as well.

Provisions for heavy penalties there, but difficult to police.

Transgressions can attract two kinds of penalties — major and minor. Major penalties can include “dismissal” from the service as well.

Besides these conduct rules, there is also the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA). However, action on corruption in India is based less on intelligence and more on complaints. While anonymous complaints are not entertained, complaints with name and details of complainants too hardly ever reach the proper forum. Fora where such complaints can be made include the Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal and other investigation agencies.

Written by Shyamlal Yadav

Source: Indian Express, 26/05/23

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Friday, May 26, 2023

Quote of the Day May 26, 2023

 

“It doesn't hurt to be optimistic. You can always cry later.”
Lucimar Santos de Lima
“आशावादी होने में क्या कष्ट है? रो तो कभी भी सकते हैं।”
लूसिमार सांतोस द लीमा
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Current Affairs-May 25, 2023

 

INDIA

  • U.T. Khader, 54, was unanimously elected Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, becomes the first Muslim to hold the post in Karnataka.
  • INSV Tarini entered Goa harbour after successfully completing a 17,000 NM trans-ocean inter-continental voyage after 188 days.
  • India is set to scale up its supercomputing prowess and install an 18-petaflop system.
  • Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya initiated the second phase of talks to resolve boundary disputes.
  • FSSAI to conduct nationwide surveillance of milk and milk products.
  • PM Modi flags off Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express.
  • Arunachal Pradesh govt to set up Institute for Transforming Arunachal with NITI Aayog.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

  • Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tightens norms for offshore funds.
  • BSE and NSE put the securities of Adani Enterprises under the short-term ASM framework.
  • India and Australia aim to conclude comprehensive trade deal by end of 2023.
  • SEBI approves HDFC Bank as new owner of HDFC AMC.

WORLD

  • Florida Governor, Republican Ron DeSantis launches his US presidential campaign.
  • UK Visa Policy Update: New Immigration Rule restricts Indians from bringing dependents.
  • China appoints new envoy to U.S. ,filling a post that unusually remained vacant for close to five months.
  • Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Rodel won the International Booker Prize for Time Shelter.

SPORTS

  • Indian Junior hockey team defeats Chinese Taipei 18-0 at Men’s Asia Cup 2023.
  • P V Sindhu defeats Aya Ohori to enter Malaysia Masters quarterfinals.
  • Indian Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar wins gold and Jeswin Aldrin takes silver at International Jumping Meeting in Greece
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Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

 

Vol. 58, Issue No. 20, 20 May, 2023

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A Happy Life~I

 Some Western international agencies bring out annual indices of happiness to rank different countries according to parameters devised by them. These rankings only reflect their own cultural, racial or civilisational bias without bearing an iota of truth, and are intended to generally demonstrate the so-called superiority of the West which is now slowly decaying politically, morally and also economically over the rest of the world.

All human beings ~ men and women, young and old, rich and poor, well and unwell, want to be happy, so much so that happiness has been equated with the meaning and essence of life, reason of our existence, our ultimate destiny.

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy”, as the Dalai Lama has said. The idea of power and wealth, fame and recognition, position and status, all become meaningless before that supreme state of being called happiness, even though these very things often bring happiness to the minds of ordinary mortals.

But many also believe, like Marcus Aurelius that, “Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.” If you are happy, that is an end in itself and nothing else is needed in life.

But what is happiness, that impossible and unreachable El Dorado we all seek and strive to reach at every turn of our lives? To be able to analyse anything, we need first to define it, and here we find that it is impossible to define happiness.

There are many definitions available though, and most of these are clichéd, like the oft-quoted definition given by 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon: “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” Philosophers and spiritual leaders have told us that one’s happiness is derived not from material possessions, neither from sensual pleasures and nor from anything outside of oneself, but relates to one’s state of mind. William James, regarded as the founder of American psychology, wrote in 1902: “If you can change your mind, you can change your life.”

But the problem is that the mind cannot be permanent in an equilibrium state ~ it is ever changing. Hence happiness cannot be a constant state of euphoria, but rather a balance of emotions that somehow brings a sense of meaning, purpose and fulfilment. It is not an end or a goal, but only a state of “being”. Happiness is often equated or confused with “well-being” which is produced by interplay of a number of extraneous factors like income, health, education, basic liberties, choices available, relationships, physical and social security, etc. But even then, it is a subjective sense of well-being, which is neither measurable nor quantifiable.

Yet some Western international agencies bring out annual indices of happiness to rank different countries according to parameters devised by them. These rankings only reflect their own cultural, racial or civilisational bias without bearing an iota of truth, and are intended to generally demonstrate the socalled superiority of the West ~ which is now slowly decaying politically, morally and also economically ~ over the rest of the world.

A New York-based agency called Sustainable Development Solutions Network brings out an annual World Happiness Report, whose 2023 version has ranked India at 126th position out of 136 countries, much below strife-torn countries like Palestine (ranked 99), Iran (101), Sri Lanka (112), Myanmar (117) or Ethiopia (124), many of which ruthlessly suppress the civil liberties of their people. Their rankings depend on six parameters: per capita income, social support, life expectancy at birth, freedom to make life choices, charity, and perceptions of corruption.

It does not require superlative intelligence to divine that all these parameters are derivatives of a single parameter, i.e., wealth of a nation, and hence will always favour rich nations over poor ones. So, the richer you are, the happier you are; in other words, income is synonymous with happiness, an assumption not validated by facts, just as happiness cannot be equated with success in material terms. Happiness research is primarily based on people’s perception which can be assessed through surveys.

The mind is influenced by social and cultural factors; hence how we perceive happiness also depends on these factors. In collectivist societies like Japan, people reckon happiness more as a shared experience rather than individual satisfaction with life, whereas in individualistic societies, people perceive happiness more in terms of individual satisfaction, and also in comparison to others. Happy people increase the happiness of others around them; hence bonding within social groups and families contributes positively to happiness. But is happiness a choice in the sense that we can exercise control over it?

Buddhists believe mediation gives one control over one’s mind and hence over happiness. There are infinite websites that tell us how to be happy through mindfulness, feeling of gratitude towards “universe”, focusing on the “inner self”, replacing negative thoughts, etc., none of which sounds practically very convincing. Sociologists, scientists and economists bring another paradigm ~ they believe happiness is more the outcome of institutional and economic forces shaped by power differences between groups rather than a matter individual choice.

Thus, black people in America are less likely than whites to feel happy, a fact corroborated by studies. Groups with lesser power, income, wealth or influence are generally less happy than those who have more of these. Studies have found that income inequality is one major cause of unhappiness of people at the lower end of distribution.

A 2011 US study found that as income inequality grew, people in the lower half of the income range felt less happy. In recent times a movement called positive psychology, which treats happiness as “subjective well-being”, is gaining ground by focussing on the positive events and influences in life, rather than the negative and dysfunctional ones.

It lays emphasis on positive experiences like joy, inspiration or love, positive traits like gratitude or compassion, and positive institutions that apply and encourage these principles. But positivity has its own negativity too, as Edgar Cabanas and Eva Illouz explored in their book “Manufacturing Happy Citizens:

How the Science and Industry of Happiness Control our Lives”. They showed how happiness has been woven into the very fabric of power by a neoliberal alliance of psychologists, economists and self-help gurus.

Propped by influential institutions and multinational corporations, these “experts” often force governments to use oppressive policies and interventions to change people’s behaviour for what they believe are more successful, meaningful and healthier lives. In her 2007 book “The How of Happiness”, the positive psychology researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky describes happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” Each of the terms here lends itself to varying interpretations.

To avoid such possible confusion, Aristotle had said much earlier, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Without trying to define, the British-American anthropologist Ashley-Montagu had said, “The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.” It is perhaps a functional definition, because we all experience such “surprise” moments that bring happiness.

Thomas Hardy has said, “Happiness is only an occasional episode in the general drama of pain” surrounding us, like tiny islands of hope in a vast, dark and desolate ocean. There are many who think that happiness consists in having a stream of small joys and pleasures to fill our days, and that happiness can be understood only on a daily basis, because there is no enduring, permanent, everlasting happiness.

“And they lived happily ever afterwards” is only a cliché, much too overused and meaningless. Most of us have everything we need to live happily ~ a nice family, successful kids, a good home, maybe a car too, a reasonable income, a reasonably good professional career ~ yet we are very unhappy at times. Events outside our control, like natural calamities, disruptive technologies, global financial crises, mental health issues etc. can completely overtake us, ejecting us out of our orbit of happiness. There is no linear pathway to happiness that can insure against all insecurities, and, in fact, it has ceased to be an individual choice.

Happiness is today measured by society, not by the individual. Society measures happiness by one’s ability to achieve more, accumulate more, hoard more, consume more, display more. In this unknown and enchanting land of “ever mores”, there is no rulebook, no ethics, no morality, no bounds whatsoever.

The brave new world equates happiness with success and success with happiness, and success is equated with limitless “more”, to keep pace with a restless world that is changing too fast ~ indeed, much faster than our ability to adapt and find peace in its swirl of uncertainty. Penny Locaso, an Australian entrepreneur and author of the book “Hacking Happiness: How to Intentionally Adapt and Shape the Future You Want” said, “Happiness is not a destination. It’s a state of mind, and you don’t need to be in it every moment of every day. Not only is that impossible, but it’s also unhealthy. Life is complex and uncertain. Ups and downs are normal….

How do you experience happiness if you don’t know sadness and pain?” Is sadness and pain, then, integral to happiness? It would be the ultimate incongruity if to understand happiness, first you have to go through pain and suffering, despair and frustration.

But the reality is that many people who have suffered devastating financial or emotional catharsis, have overcome their losses and their fears of uncertainty, and learnt to live simpler, balanced and fulfilling lives.

Psychologists refer to this as “emodiversity” ~ the ability to experience a diverse range of emotions in equal measures. But it is always the human connections that play a definitive role in human happiness.

GOVIND BHATTACHARJEE

Source: The Statesman, 25/05/23

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Lifelong lessons

 

Five American states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Alaska and Utah — have now dropped the requirement of a four-year college degree for most government jobs


The college degree is losing its shine right in the heart of the country that claims some of the best colleges in the world. Five American states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Alaska and Utah — have now dropped the requirement of a four-year college degree for most government jobs. The immediate trigger is no doubt the tight labour market. But as college tuition continues to rise and their enrolments continue to decline, opinion polls repeatedly reveal falling public faith and support for traditional higher education.

What Peter Drucker called the knowledge economy seems not to be working quite as well as when the term was doing popular rounds in the second half of the 20th century. Even so, the erosion of faith in traditional colleges in the United States of America remains a localised phenomenon. It does not necessarily indicate a loss of faith in higher education per se, just in its traditional method and venue of delivery. The knowledge worker most likely to continue being relevant is still someone immersed in knowledge, just capable of coursing through its rapidly changing waters through an entire lifetime rather than bearing an early, immutable stamp. Lifelong learning, that great liberal humanist expression, is now a corporate catchphrase owned by organisers of distance, continuing, and (the particularly lucrative) executive education. And with pandemic-accelerated logistical support behind, and the ongoing and impending wave of Artificial Intelligence right ahead, the giant called educational technology has expanded its reach to engulf much of that life of long learning. Certainly enough for the newsmagazine, Inside Higher Ed, to describe a recent crucial gathering of tech and finance business leaders at MIT as the “oncoming AI Ed-Tech tsunami”.

The onset of the tsunami is being particularly felt in post-industrial island states where the key resource is people. At 275 square miles and home to 5.4 million people, Singapore knows well what its key strength is — human capital. “The only thing Singapore has,” Gan Chee Lip, associate provost for undergraduate education at Nanyang Technological University, recently told the Times Higher Education, “without natural resources, is people.” It is natural that Singapore has taken lifelong learning more seriously than most other countries because without a future-ready workforce it will quickly lose its edge in the global economy. The SkillsFuture programme was introduced by the Singapore government in 2014, with the motto, “Develop Our People”. With the goal of providing Singaporeans with “opportunities to develop their fullest potential throughout life,” it gives every citizen aged 25 or older S$500 of credit that they can spend on further education or training. The programme has gained traction in the corporate world as it does not necessarily require employees to commit to a full-length academic programme but space out the learning as and when necessary. Universities have followed, with the National University of Singapore making the striking announcement in 2018 that all its alums will stay enrolled in the university for 20 years from admission, making its 300,000+ alums automatically eligible for its 700-odd continuing education courses, to which they can apply their government subsidies.

Innovative US institutions have been experimenting with the ‘fragmented’ college model for some time now. The Design School at Stanford initiated a six-year undergraduate degree a few years ago, which could be taken in instalments of two years each in different decades of one’s life. It is not quite clear what the success of that initiative has been, but what is clear is that the traditional model of college education is under significant pressure in the US, not just from unsympathetic politicians and an increasingly disinterested public but also from the rapid decline in numbers of college-age students, which is projected to reach a major crisis in 2025. Which, incidentally, means that these colleges will be more eager than ever to welcome fee-paying international students, particularly from Asia, from where applications continue to rise.

That the bachelor’s degree is being stretched and pushed in different directions is clear from its new incarnation in India’s National Education Policy, 2020. As we know by now, it offers four versions of undergraduate certification, attainable at the end of each of the first, second, third, and fourth years. This is a significant departure from the examination-driven, three-year structure that was the colonial inheritance of Indian universities from the University of London model. While the relevance of undergraduate research is acknowledged in the expanded, four-year degree, a productive fragmentation of this education seems to be the goal behind the early exit policies, with credits bankable and transferrable through the Academic Bank of Credit. The NEP seems torn between — sometimes productively and sometimes not so productively — the liberal, the professional, and the vocational — and the pluralisation of the undergraduate degree reflects this, to a similarly mixed effect.

But it is impossible to talk about the fragmentation, diminution or, for that matter, the obsolescence or lifelong expansion of the college degree without considering what this means for social mobility, particularly for those who need it the most. This was, indeed, the caveat behind Drucker’s knowledge society — the loss of manufacturing jobs to venues overseas, he had argued, would render the American unskilled worker jobless — as it did across the Rust Belt across the Midwest. The NEP committee, now working on the National Curriculum Framework, recently asked me to provide a brief definition of ‘knowledge’ that could be used to frame the policy discussion, and while trying to think of something that would be as expansive as it would be pluralistic — a sore need of the hour — I realised anew the porousness and amorphousness of the term, whether at the secondary or the post-secondary stage. And it is a problem of practice, not just philosophy. Knowledge and skill are just elements of the educational experience, and the college degree offers the making of a cohort, a community, and socio-professional networks that may just return to the exclusive possession of the born-elite if eroded beyond recognition. The biggest risk of the early-exit undergraduate degree is the early exit of the poorest college student.

Saikat Majumdar is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University

Source: The Telegraph, 24/05/23

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What is the tampon tax and which countries have axed it?

 

Millions of women and girls face what is known as 'period poverty'. Tax on pads and tampons make the matter worse. Currently, such taxes have been scrapped or cut in 48 nations, with advocates saying that access to hygiene products is a rights issue.


More than a quarter of menstruating women and girls around the world – some 500 million people – struggle to manage their periods, often because they cannot afford sanitary pads, according to the World Bank.

Concern about “period poverty” has fuelled campaigns globally calling for the end of the so-called tampon tax, which refers to consumption levies such as value-added tax (VAT) that most countries charge on items such as sanitary pads, tampons, panty liners and menstrual cups.

In some countries, period products are considered non-essential items for VAT purposes, while items including toilet paper, condoms and over-the-counter medicines are tax-free or carry a lower levy.

Here’s what you need to know about tampon taxes around the world.

Which countries have abolished the tampon tax?

Since Kenya became the first country to scrap VAT on sanitary pads and tampons in 2004, at least 17 countries have followed suit, according to research by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.Among the latest countries to pass laws to abolish the tampon tax are Mexico, Britain and Namibia.Another 10 countries have designated sanitary products as tax-exempt goods or have exempted the tax on imported raw materials used to make them.

Advocates against period poverty usually campaign for sanitary products to be zero-rated for VAT, as this means producers can also claim back taxes on raw materials, making the final product truly tax-free.

Although Tanzania and Nicaragua had also scrapped the tax on period products, both countries reintroduced it in 2019. Mainly in Europe, 17 countries have reduced the VAT on sanitary products, with Italy the latest to do so this year.

The European Union last year revised a directive that previously only allowed member states to reduce VAT on sanitary products by 5%. The change means nations can now apply lower tax rates to some goods.

In tampon tax pioneer Kenya, free distribution of period products in schools is included in the annual budget, though campaigners say the supply is patchy.

Elsewhere in Africa, free pads are provided to schoolgirls in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Why are some countries unwilling to scrap tampon taxes?

VAT is an important source of revenue for governments – and the reason why many countries still have a tampon tax. In countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), VAT revenue represented 6.7% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.

VAT rates vary widely from country to country – from 5% in Canada to up to 27% in Hungary – and governments often have different definitions of what is considered an essential good that is exempted from the levy. In nearly two dozen U.S. states, menstrual products still carry a general sales tax (GST) similar to VAT that is levied on all consumer goods and services, said Laura Strausfeld, executive director at Period Law, a non-profit doing law and policy work to end the tampon tax in the United States.

Several other U.S. states have no such levy. Advocates also say that in countries where menstruation remains a taboo subject, lawmakers and policymakers show little interest in starting debate about the affordability of period products.

What comes next?

In the United States, advocates said there is growing political will to remove the sales tax in states where it is still imposed such as Texas, where a bill to scrap it won preliminary approval in March.“This is actually the first year that this (removing the tax in all states) can happen. In 2023, there are 22 states left and all of them are on a path towards removing the tax,” said Strausfeld.

From Chile to the Czech Republic there are ongoing efforts to slash the tax, as well as bills to distribute free products in schools, such as the Dignified Menstruation Law in Mexico.

Some women’s rights advocates say the distribution of free pads may ultimately be the only way to ensure access to period products. n 2022, Scotland became the first nation to make tampons and sanitary pads free and available at designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies.

Source: Indian Express, 25/05/23

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