Chandigarh: In the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently, the 16 per cent tax increased on cigarettes as National Calamity Contingency Duty has been welcomed by youth, doctors and economists. According to Sunil Vatsayan, founder of NADA India Foundation, this step will keep away from making cigarettes affordable. Along with this, it will also provide additional revenue to the government.
On the eve of World Cancer Day, NADA India Foundation, which is striving to make the country tobacco free, also calls upon the Govt to increase the tax on bidi, gutka and other tobacco products. According to Vatsayan, only a fraction of the smoking population consumes cigarettes, while most of them consume bidis and gutka, which are cheaper than cigarettes. The biggest reason for fast spreading cancer in the country is bidi and gutka available for less money, on which the government needs to take a more strict stand.
The cost of these products will not only reduce the consumption of tobacco, but also break the habit of tobacco consumption among the youth.
In the 139th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare presented in the Parliament on Cancer Care Plan and Management, it has been clarified that the main reason for fifty percent of cancer cases is tobacco consumption. In view of this, the members of NADA Young India Network have launched a nationwide campaign through various youth forums to keep the youth away from this evil.
According to well-known cardiologist Dr. Shekhar Kashyap, bidis and gutka are mostly consumed by poor people in the country. Due to non-imposition of these taxes for the last several years, these products have become more easily available for these poor and youth. But now the time has come, if India has to lay a healthy foundation, then these products should also be taxed and made expensive so that these things remain out of the reach of the people. The increased tax will help in making the country's five trillion dollar economy possible.