RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has welcomed the government’s decision to withdraw its order to make pictorial warning mandatory on Beedi bundles and wholesale pack of cigarettes.
“The government has withdrawn mandatory 100 per cent four colour pictorial warning on multiple packs of cigarettes (carton or pack of 10, 100 etc) and single as well as multiple packs of beedi. This would give big relief to tendu leaves farmers and beedi workers,” BMS Zonal Secretary Pawan Kumar has told a news agency.
As per a new notification issued on July 21, the pictorial warning on wholesale packaging has been cancelled, the union said. According to the statement, the Health Ministry has withdrawn its notification issued on April 13, 2020, which made mandatory four colour printing of pictorial warning on all types of packaging materials including wholesale packages which a consumer cannot see.
The union stated that around two crores of Beedi industry dependents and Tendu leaf pluckers will have “a sigh of relief” by this decision of the Government of India.
As per the new notification, the pictorial warning on wholesale packaging has been cancelled. The BMS also requested the Government of India to separate Beedi from other tobacco products and also to provide at least 20 days of job per month per person throughout the country.
Bidi Smoking and Public Health
Bidis are small hand-rolled cigarettes 7-8 times more common in India than conventional cigarettes. When compared to conventional cigarettes, “bidis produce equal or higher levels of nicotine, tar, and other toxic chemicals.” Their consumption and market penetration is spreading far beyond the national borders of India.
WHO’s “Bidi Smoking and Public Health” is an analysis and synthesis of the latest information from India and the United States and serves as a resource authority on this increasingly prevalent form of smoking.
In India, bidi cigarettes are cheaper and more heavily consumed than traditional commercial cigarettes. It is a common misconception that because the cigarettes are less expensive, they are also less harmful. That is a dangerous misconception.
Health Risks of Bidi Smoking
In some respects, bidis are actually more harmful than regular commercial cigarettes produced in the U.S.
- Bidi cigarettes contain three to five times more nicotine than traditional cigarettes.
- Bidi cigarettes contain more tar and carbon monoxide than regular cigarettes.
- Bidi smokers breathe in higher levels of toxins, because bidis don’t have chemicals added to help with combustion. Smokers must draw on a bidi cigarette more often and with more force to keep it from going out.