Beedi business shouldn’t get the benefits of a cottage industry: AIIMS study

AIIMS Jaipur study says that the government should make beedi workers aware about the health hazards of beedi rolling, smoking, and passive smoking.

For the betterment of the beedi workers and society at large,  the beedi industry should lose the taxation benefits it enjoys as a cottage industry, a study by AIIMS has said.

The study conducted by the School of Public Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, called for a framework for the regulation and tracking of beedi tobacco, from cultivation to processing and manufacture, possibly by bringing beedi tobacco under the purview of the Tobacco Board of India.

Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said that unlike a regulated business, the beedi industry is relatively scattered.

“First we need  to document it at a granular level. We also need to think what alternative occupations can  tendu leaf collectors take up, which are as remunerative or more,” said Bhushan, while addressing the 2nd National Consultation on Beedi Lifecycle & Health and Economic Burden of Beedi Consumption in India, at the National Academy of Medical Sciences.

Tendu leaf collectors collect the leaves that beedis are made of.

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The study said that taxation can be used to increase revenue, while reducing consumption and tobacco-related diseases.  It said the regulation of the beedi industry may help save nearly 10.5 million lives a year.

“Considering the health, environmental, and economic burden due to the consumption of beedis, the beedi business should lose the status of a cottage industry and the associated regulation and taxation benefits it enjoys,” the report said.

The study by the School of Public Health said that  the laws applicable to cigarettes, such as a ban on the sale of loose sticks and enforcement of tobacco vendor licensing norms to reduce black marketing, should be extended to beedis.

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According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2 (GATS 2016-17), 7.7 percent of adults smoke beedis in India (14 percent of the men and 1.2 percent of the women).

Dr Kuldeep Singh Sachdeva, Regional Director, The Union South East Asia (an organisation that fights against TB and lung disease), said that while beedi smoking harms the health of the smokers, the industry escapes many regulations.

“A huge segment of the industry is unregulated and untaxed. While the WHO recommends 75 percent taxation of all tobacco products, only 20.6 percent of the beedi industry is taxed, that too at 22 percent,” Sachdeva added.

The AIIMS report said that The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare must recognise beedi rolling as an occupational health hazard as beedi rollers face high exposure to nicotine.

“The ministry should make beedi workers aware about the health hazards of beedi rolling, smoking, and passive smoking, and provide better healthcare services, including screening and treatment for tobacco-related illnesses,” the report added.