Guwahati, Jan 12: A human chain was formed by school students here on the occasion of National Youth Day during the course of which a fervent appeal was made to the President, Prime Minister and finance minister to make tobacco products unaffordable for vulnerable groups.
Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum (CLPF), Assam organised the event on the theme, “Increase Tobacco Tax to Saves Lives,” on the occasion at Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School here on Thursday.
The event was organised in association with organisations such as Consumer VOICE, New Delhi and Seuj Axom.
The participants displayed placards and postcards with a plea to the President, Prime Minister and finance minister to take measures to increase excise duty on all tobacco products in order 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.
CLPF Assam 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) revealed that about one-fifth of students aged 13 to 15 years were consuming tobacco in some form.