Meghalaya polls: Free sanitary napkins, GST exemptions if voted to power, says Mahila Congress

Shillong: All India Congress Committee Mahila president Sushmita Dev on Monday  said the party will provide free sanitary napkins to women in Meghalaya if voted to power in the 27 February Assembly elections. Dev said she had urged the Centre and the finance minister to exempt GST on sanitary napkins. “If the price is subsidised, it becomes a product that is affordable in the rural market, so private companies take it there,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_4173725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress leader Sushmita Dev. Facebook[/caption] Dev claimed the BJP will not win a single seat in Meghalaya, and its similar promise of free sanitary napkins will not happen. She accused the saffron party of not being serious about the security of women. “After the (2012) Nirbhaya case, we changed a lot of laws, but the recent NCRB data shows crime against women has still gone up,” she said, adding that 60 percent of the Nirbhaya fund was lying “unused”. Dev also took a jibe at union minister Smriti Irani who campaigned in Shillong on Sunday. “We need to ask a lot of questions on the leaders of the BJP who are coming to Meghalaya and talking about the security of women,” she added.