Anti-tobacco campaigners on Friday demanded that the government should impose 70 per cent tax on chewing tobacco products to discourage tobacco consumption.
They expressed their dissatisfaction as they said the finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, was silent over imposing tax on the smokeless tobacco in the proposed budget.
The government for the first time increased taxes on hand-roll bidis in the proposed budget.
‘But the benefits that cigarette companies have been enjoying remained unchanged and there was no words on smokeless tobacco,’ economist Abul Barkat said at a press briefing.
The programme was organised by a research group of Barkat Human Development Research Centre, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids’, Anti-tobacco Media Alliance, and Progga Knowledge for Progress at a city hotel.
The finance minister has proposed a 30 per cent supplementary duty on bidis, a 10 per cent increase from the existing 20 per cent.
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids’ Bangladesh coordinator Taifur Rahman said, ‘Though the government proposed increased taxes on bidis, now we have to wait for the reply from the parliamentarians to see how they speak in parliament before the final budget.’
Referring to proposed budget of 2009-10, where the government proposed a slight increase in taxes on bidis, Rahman said in the final budget it was revised as MPs spoke against it.
They also demanded that the government should increase the price of tobacco products on the basis of inflation every year.
They also urged the government to spend the collected tax from the tobacco companies for the health service of the people and for anti-tobacco campaign.
-With New Age input
