Mere cigarette controls will not help

Guntur: The Central government’s thinking to regulate cigarette smoking in the country would impact just 12 per cent of tobacco trade in the country, while a major portion of tobacco consumption is in many forms including beedis, chewing, cigar filler, cigar wrapper etc which have more socio-economic ramifications.

For the world at large and particularly in the western countries, tobacco is synonymous with cigarettes, while in India it constitutes minuscule portion of the total tobacco production.

It is being consumption in several subtle forms constitutes 88 per cent and its ill effect on the general health of the population is much more. However, the government is targeting only cigarette industry.

While Flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco cultivation is dominant in the Krishna, Guntur and Praksham districts and constitutes about 50 per cent of the total FCV tobacco production in the country.

As many as 89,507 farmers are growing FCV tobacco in 1.23 lakh hectares in undivided Andhra Pradesh with a production of 170 million kg of leaf. The farmers of Guntur, Prakasham and Krishna alone produce 50 percent of total undivided AP production.

Interestingly, tobacco farmer had never experienced distress of any kind and even in adverse climatic conditions, tobacco had stood the test of time and never ditched farmers. Tobacco and tobacco products earn approximately Rs 20,000 crore by way of excise duty and Rs 6,000 crore in the form of foreign exchange for the government exchequer.

A holistic approach is needed in any legislation to control tobacco as its cultivation is a lifeline in the absence of alternative livelihood options. About 20 per cent of those in tobacco industry are farm laborers, 6 per cent are farmers, 4.8 per cent beedi workers, 2.2 per cent in tendu leaf pluckers and 5 per cent traders and retailers in the industry.

Tobacco is consumed in the form of cigarettes, cigars, cheroots, bidis, pipe and hookah. It is chewed in the form of Surti, Zarda, Qiwamquid, Masheri, Kharamasala.

Thus, the tobacco crop provides employment to about 36 million people directly or indirectly including 6 million farmers in the country. On the health aspect, non-cigarette consumption of tobacco is more harmful than cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco including chewing, snuff inhaling and cigars etc. contains 28 cancer causing agents.

About 3 to 4 times of nicotine is absorbed from smokeless tobacco than from a cigarette and tobacco stays longer in bloodstream than nicotine from a cigarette.

Interestingly, except the cigarette industry, the other forms of tobacco uses are neither regulated nor taxed.
Hence, there is a need to take a pragmatic approach towards tobacco production and consumption keeping in view the vulnerability of the country and especially the growers who make a livelihood out of its cultivation.

By: Ravi P Benjamin