Anti-Tobacco Forum (ATF), Mysuru, has expressed disappointment over the absence of any levies on tobacco products in the recently presented State Budget.
In a press statement, Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, convenor of ATF, stated that it was unfortunate that the State Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah failed to impose a tax or duty on tobacco products. He pointed out that this was a missed opportunity, especially since the Union Budget also did not address taxation on tobacco products.
Even though the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied by the Centre, Mr. Vasanthkumar said the States had the power to impose levies under the “national calamity contingent duty” on tobacco products.
Claiming that there were 12 million users of tobacco products in the State, he said the State government could have collected millions of rupees from the levies.
“This money would have helped the government to increase the allocation to the health sector or meet the expenditure on implementation of its guarantee schemes,” he said.
Both Centre and State governments have been lenient towards tobacco consumers and the tobacco industry in their respective Budgets for unknown reasons, he said.
Mr. Vasanthkumar pointed out that increasing the tax would make smoking more expensive, potentially discouraging individuals from continuing their nicotine addiction and promoting better health.
