New Delhi, Alarmed by the media reports that bidi may be exempted from the
demerit good category and additional cess, Oncologists from India’s 108 cancer
centers came together to plead honorable Prime Minister to stop this serious
anomaly in proposed GST structure. Needless to say that bidi alone kills 6 lac
Indians every year.
It was reported by the
media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair a meeting of
government officials to review the fitment of items in tax slabs before these
go to the all-powerful Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council for the final
approval. The Rajya Sabha had recently cleared the integrated, central and
Union Territories GST Bills and compensation Bills after the Lok Sabha passed
it earlier. The next step for the GST Council is to clear the fitment of
various commodities and services into five slabs. It has been reported by the
media that Bidi is unlikely to be in the slab of demerit goods category. Hence,
the oncologists of India (under the banner of National Cancer Grid) took this
unprecedented step of raising their collective voice as a final salvo.
The National Cancer
Grid (NCG) is a large network of 108 cancer centres, research institutes,
patient groups, professional societies and charitable organizations from across
India and works towards uniform quality of cancer care throughout the length
and breadth of India. It is estimated that approximately 600,000 patients with
cancer are treated annually in the NCG centres, which amounts to 60% of all
patients with cancer in India.
Dr RA Badwe,
Directror, Tata Memorial Center mentioned in his letter “Tobacco taxation in
India is much lower than what the level recommended. GST is a golden
opportunity to correct the historical aberrations in tobacco taxation in India.
In the interest of citizens of India, especially future generations, we
sincerely urge you to put all tobacco
products, including bidis in
the category of demerit goods in the proposed GST structure and rates.”
R.Venkatraman,
Managing Trustee of Tata Trusts said “The human and financial losses due to tobacco
are staggering. The battle against cancer cannot be won unless we curtail
tobacco addiction in the society. For the benefit of future generation, we must
stop this manmade disaster that is number one preventable cause of non-communicable diseases.”
He said “Tobacco kills every third user prematurely and
unfortunately every third Indian adult uses some form of tobacco. India
witnesses about 10 lac deaths from tobacco-related diseases each year. Nearly
40% of the cancers in India are attributable to Tobacco usage. High taxation
will certainly curb this epidemic”
Dr.Harit Chaturvedi, Chairman, oncology
Department, Max Hospital said
“considering the political clout of the Bidi lobby, honorable Prime Minister is
our only hope. He has already expressed his strong anti-tobacco sentiments in
various platforms. I am sure he would take steps to save bidi workers and
rollers from centuries of exploitation by the tobacco lobby”
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