Economists and public health experts have welcomed hike in national calamity contingent duty (NCCD) on cigarettes by 16% in Union Budget 2023-24. During a webinar held recently, they hoped that higher taxes will be imposed on more tobacco products to make them unaffordable and make India, a tobacco-free nation in the ‘Amrit Kaal’. The Health Pioneer shares the details:
Increasing the tax by 16 per cent on cigarettes clearly shows the government's plans to further strengthen the tobacco control policy and levy higher tax on sin products that are consuming over 13 lakh lives every year while causing economic burden on health to the tune of Rs 177341 crore,” said noted economist and BJP Spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal.
Participating in a discussion on “Amrit Kaal: A journey towards Tobacco-Free India” organised by Tobacco Free India, a citizen group platform, Agarwal strongly felt that hike in prices on such harmful products through tax policy is the most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption.
This can be done by implementing the triple A concept: cutting down Affordability and Availability of tobacco items by hiking tax while making people Aware of its harmful impact, he said in the talk moderated by well-known journalist and writer Arun Anand.
“The total tax burden is currently about 53 per cent for cigarettes, 22 per cent for bidis and 60 per cent for smokeless tobacco. This shows that there is enough scope to enhance tax that will not have much impact on the earnings of the industry but will certainly help cut down tobacco consumption. Revenue earned through taxation can be invested for providing alternative jobs to poor and tribal people associated in tobacco related business,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a uniform tax of at least 75 per cent for each tobacco product, he noted, adding that a Parliament Committee in its recent report too has highlighted that the existing tax on tobacco products is not enough. Currently 28% of the adult population of the country is using tobacco products while the tobacco burden amounts to Rs 1,77,341 crores which is 1 per cent of India’s GDP. This is worrisome, said Agarwal.
In the 75th year of Independence, India has entered into the ‘Amrit Kaal’ which will continue till next 25 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his resolution to make India a Samridh (Prosperous India) touching the USD 5 trillion economy mark. “How will it be possible if earnings are wasted on treating tobacco causing diseases,” he asked.
Various researches show that increasing tax by 10% can reduce smoking by 08% in middle income countries like India. More than 40 countries around the world have levied tobacco taxes at more than 75% including Sri Lanka (77%) and Thailand (78.6%) in our region.
Participating in the webinar. Dr Uma Kumar, public health expert and Head of the Department of Rheumatology, AIIMS, Delhi too welcome the increase in taxes on Cigarettes as she presented disturbing status of the growing number of diseases linked with tobacco and its health burden on the household and economy. Tobacco is one of the most prominent risk factors associated with cancer as well many other diseases like respiratory, stroke and heart attacks.
Lamenting that affected families not only face the loss of their loved ones but are also drained financially, emotionally and mentally, she said that proposed amendments to the tobacco-control law COTPA by the central government should be implemented with immediate effect.
Dr Rahul Bhargava, Director of Haematology and Stem Cell Transplant at Fortis Hospital, Gurugram also termed increase in duty on cigarettes as exemplary measures and hoped that the taxes on all the tobacco products will be hiked in the next GST Council meeting in agreement with the States. “The idea is to make these sin products unaffordable to the people and save their lives.”
Expressing concern that designated smoking zones at airports, hotel and restaurants were a major cause for second hand smoking, the public health expert batted for hundred per cent smoke free areas.
Dr Rambha Pandey, Radiation Oncologist from AIIMS, Delhi echoed similar views as she expressed her concern at the rising consumption of tobacco among people particularly children in the age group of 9-15 years. “This is the age when we as elders and policy makers should help the adolescents focus on their health and education but unfortunately many of them are getting addicted to the deadly tobacco and by the time they realize their mistakes it is too late for them as well as us,” lamented Dr Pandey. She also expressed concern about advertisements at Point of Sale.
Nearly 27 crore adults of 15 years age and above used tobacco in some form or the other, as per Global Adult Tobacco Survey-India (GATS -2016-17). India is the second largest consumer and the third largest producer of tobacco.