Srinagar, May 25 (IANS): To discourage consumption of tobacco products, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N.Vohra on Tuesday urged the Mehbooba Mufti government to increase tax on them.

Ahead of the budget session of the bicameral state legislature starting on Wednesday, Vohra, in a letter to Finance Minister Haseeb A. Drabu, urged him to increase tax on tobacco products from the present 40 percent to atleast 65 percent to secure a significant decrease in tobacco consumption which is leading to s erious diseases and the incidence of cancers in the state.

The governor has observed that Rajasthan and Punjab have increased taxes on tobacco products to 65 and 55 percent respectively and, in Jammu and Kashmir, consequent to the increase in the tax from 13.5 percent to 40 percent, the level of tobacco consumption is reported to have significantly gone down, especially among the youth, besides generating threefold increase in the revenue earned.