Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 10: Public health institutions and economists have urged the government to increase excise duty on all the tobacco products as a measure to augment its revenue.

The demand to increase excise duty on cigarettes, beedis and smokeless tobacco products contains a plea made to the ministry of finance. The group feels that increasing of duty on tobacco products meets the urgent need for the central government to increase its income. This in turn will reduce the use of tobacco products, brings down diseases associated with it including Covid-related deficiencies and generates additional income. Therefore they feel that this is an ideal avenue to achieve multiple purposes.

The additional income so generated can be used to pool resources needed for vaccination, improve health infrastructure etc. Levying of excise duty on all kinds of tobacco products and including them in the highest tax slabs in the GST regime will make sure that tobacco is not available at reasonable prices. This in turn will form a strong base for reducing use of tobacco by weaker sections of the society. It will also have a long term effect on the quality of life of 268 million tobacco users in the country and stops children and young men from cultivating tobacco habit, it explains.

S J Chander, convener of Tobacco Free Karnataka Union, which has been formed with the coming together individuals working in Karnataka since 2001, tobacco health advocates, economists and healthcare organizations, says that making tobacco products costlier by increasing taxes is a good and easy way to keep the children away from tobacco. He noted that the tobacco companies are targeting the children by spreading the message that consumption of tobacco is not wrong both socially and legally, to increase their markets. He said that tobacco is too addictive and therefore there is a need to take immediate action.

In a response given to a question in the winter session of the parliament, the department of finance said that central excise and cess of Rs 1,234 crore was collected on tobacco products during 2018-19 and Rs 1,610 crore during 2019-20. The share of central excise has been gradually coming down on cigarettes and beedis as well as smokeless tobacco products. No considerable increase in tobacco taxes was noticed after GST was introduced in 2017. Many countries elsewhere have been increasing and revising taxes on tobacco products whereas in comparison, excise duty on tobacco has been very low in India, it noted.

Well-known economist and former director of the social and economic changes study centre, Prof R S Deshpande, says that it has been scientifically proven that tobacco is unhealthy. As convincing is not enough to influence the youth to stay away from tobacco, taxes on tobacco can be used as a double edged sword, he argues. The income so derived can be used for the rehabilitation of workers who face problems because of the reduction in the manufacture of tobacco products, he said.