Guwahati: Students and youths formed a human chain on the occasion of National Youth Day here to send across a fervent request to the President, Prime Minister and finance minister to increase taxes on all tobacco products in the upcoming budget of 2023-24 and make such items unaffordable for vulnerable groups.
Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam in association with Consumer VOICE, New Delhi and Seuj Axom organised an event on the theme “Increase Tobacco Tax to Saves Lives” on the occasion of National Youth Day and formed the human chain at Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School here.
Appealing to the President, Prime Minister and finance minister to increase excise duty on all tobacco products, the young participants displayed placards and postcards with a plea to the powers that be to take immediate measures to discourage tobacco consumption by raising the tax burden and save lives.
“We urge the government to raise taxes on all tobacco products to make them unaffordable so that children and teens do not fall into the trap of cheap tobacco products,” said Bishal Das, a student of Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School, Guwahati.
“Increasing excise on all tobacco products can be a very effective policy measure to address the immediate need to raise revenue by the central government,” said Dipankar Chaudhury, another student.
Echoing their thoughts, Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum’s secretary Ajoy Hazarika said that increasing taxes on all tobacco products would be a winning proposition for generating revenue and reducing tobacco use and related diseases.
“Some of the major suggestions made to the President, Prime Minister and the finance minister by these youth groups include significantly increasing the existing tax burden so that tobacco products become unaffordable for the vulnerable, especially the youths,” Hazarika said.
“Tax-induced price increases effectively reduce incidences of tobacco-related deaths while generating substantial additional tobacco tax revenues, which can be utilised for national health priority like strengthening the Ayushman Bharat Programme and Fit India Movement,” he said.
“Tobacco consumption not only harms our health but is also a threat to the health of our friends and family. Additionally, tobacco users also have a greater risk of developing severe cases of cancer. So, by making them unaffordable, we can save youths from the ill effects of tobacco,” Kaberi Borah, the principal of Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School said.
Notably, India has the second-largest number (268 million) of tobacco users in the world.
The recent Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-2019) shows that nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 years are consuming tobacco in some form.
EASTMOJO PREMIUM
Help sustain honest journalism.
Also, in India, on average, children as young as 10 years take to tobacco consumption.
The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rs 182,000 crore, which is nearly 1.8 percent of India’s GDP.
Also read | What would it take for Guwahati to have a more robust bus service?