Members of Voice of Tobacco Victims and General Saviour Organisation appealed the government to rollback their proposal of decreasing taxes on cigarettes from 55% to 22%.
Ashima Sarin, project director of Voice of Tobacco said, “Tobacco is extremely dangerous for health and therefore, the government must increase taxes on all tobacco products in this year's budget by 100%. Rolling back taxes is encouraging people to consume tobacco. Illicit trade needs to be handled by stricter enforcement by the government and not by reducing taxes on tobacco products”.
Advocate Amteshwar Kaur, president of Generation Saviour Association, an SAS Nagar-based NGO said, “Since tobacco products are cheaper, they are affordable to everyone and are easily available in the market. This market has posed a hazardous thereat to the health of adolescents who become addicted to such products at a young age and gradually fall prey to many serious diseases."