From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Apr 27: When health experts and even senior bureaucrats are pressing for expanding the size of pictorial warnings on all tobacco products, especially beedi and cigarette packs, in view of the increasing awareness over the incidence of cancer and other diseases, two MPs have come out openly against the move.

The two MPs – R Dhruvanarayana (Congress) and Sharad Bansode (BJP) – said increasing the size of pictorial warning on tobacco products, posed a serious threat to the livelihood of tobacco growing farmers and beedi workers .

The tobacco growing farmers and poor beedi workers were likely to be seriously affected as their livelihood was in danger, they argued.

The two Lok Sabha members suggested that a parliamentary committee’s recommendation on increasing the size of the warning must be restricted to 50 per cent should be adhered to.

However, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who intervened during the parliamentary consultative committee’s deliberations, said public opinion was growing in favour of discouraging smoking.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Bansode claimed that ``if you don’t minimise (the warnig size), all bidi workers would be jobless”. 

He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address their concerns.

Dhruvanarayana said the parliamentary commiittee recommendation was not implemented by the government, which increased the warning’s size from 40 per cent to 85 per cent.

Some members, including Supriya Sule (NCP), were seen nodding their head in disapproval as the members spoke.

Naidu spoke about public opinion and experts’ warning against tobacco use and said the increase in the pictorial warning size was one step in that direction.

However, he said they would have to evolve a consensus while noting that farmers especially in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka cultivated tobacco. 

The issue is quite serious and the Government alone cannot do it, he said.

“We have to strongly encourage farmers to grow alternative crops. We have to find some solution,” he said.

Naidu added that he is willing to discuss the matter with Congress informally.

“We have been discussing it but have not been able to find a meaningful solution,” the minister said.