कथन

Nishikant is the favourite child of the ruling Party. Hence, I try to respond to him. … (Interruptions) He is a favoured child. You will see that he will speak four times every day. … (Interruptions) So, this question has been raised. The contrary opinion has been voiced by the Samajwadi Party. 03.12.2025 1004 He said that so many people are dependent on tobacco. Purandeswari ji asked what will happen to six million tobacco farmers and 20 million tobacco workers. An alternative has to be found for them. I do not belong to the JD(U), but Nitish Kumar ji took a bold decision to establish prohibition in Bihar, which gave him good electoral advantage. He must have lost revenue, but still he took that bold decision. Has that reduced illicit liquor in Bihar or not? This is a question to be probed. Now, the question is this. Can the Finance Minister show courage, boldness, and take a moral stand: “No, as Finance Minister, I do not want to encourage any type of smoking including cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and everything? This is the principal moral question which has been put before the Finance Minister. While one cannot object to resource mobilization by the Government for raising revenue, one must pose the question where this revenue will come from. It seems that all Governments, whenever there is shortfall in revenue tax cigarettes, etc. This means indirect encouragement. The economists have to delve into the question whether increasing price of cigarettes, etc. has reduced consumption of tobacco. With this question, I leave it to the Finance Minister to respond to the moral question raised before her whether by increasing the tax the Finance Minister is encouraging or discouraging smoking. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY (CHENNAI NORTH): Sir, thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak on the Central Excise (Amendment) 03.12.2025 1005 Bill, 2025. The hon. Finance Minister has explained very clearly about the need for this particular Bill at this particular juncture because the GST Compensation Cess, which has to come to an end and has come to an end, and this taxation has to be adjusted so that the revenue is not lost. The earlier speaker from the BJP had highlighted about the diseases that can be caused due to smoking. Apart from lung problems like COPD or bronchitis or cancers of the lung or oral cancers, you would be surprised to know that not only the lungs, but it also affects other organs like it affects the eye. There is a condition called tobacco amblyopia, which can affect your vision. There are also cancers, which can happen outside the lungs like in the pancreas or urinary bladder. So, there are multiple implications of this. When it comes to passive smokers, of course, they are inherently more affected because they are in a confined space. When they have a person who is smoking, they breathe very very normally which allows more time for the smoke to settle down into their lungs and create more problems. So many people had mentioned about the effects and how it should be curtailed etc. In fact, the Member from Congress had said that increasing the prices or the taxes is not going to deter the smoker from smoking. I would like to mention that I have worked as a surgeon in hospitals, and in Tamil Nadu specifically, in Southern India, we have a condition called as thromboangiitis obliterans. This is a condition which affects the blood circulation of the legs and this specifically occurs in people who smoke bidis. In these hospitals, I have seen hundreds of patients who smoke bidis, who come 03.12.2025 1006 up where they will end up with amputation of their legs. So, I have seen cases where they get amputated in one leg. They continue smoking, and then they lose the other leg, and I have seen the worst case where both the upper limbs also had to be amputated; with the stumps, he was still smoking the bidi. So, to say that increasing the price is going to deter people from smoking is an argument which I would definitely not accept because even though they know that it is harmful for them, they do not have the motivation for doing that. I would like to bring it to the knowledge of this House that during the UPA Government, they came out with one programme for effectively curbing smoking. They brought a law which made smoking in public places a criminal act. That one single act has brought in so much of discipline in almost all places of this country. This is something which has happened internationally, because I have been travelling abroad and everywhere smoking in public has been banned. In fact, I would like to recall that in the Central Hall in the Parliament, there used to be an ashtray. When I came here, I was told that there used to be an ashtray over there and Members used to be smoking over there. When you go to hotels and when you go to cinema theatres, when you step outside during an interval, you will find that the whole place is like a movie scenario that will be fully filled up with fog and smoke. This kind of situation used to be there. This single act of banning smoking in public place will provide relief to all the non- smokers, especially families. So, I would like to take this opportunity to tell this Government to do something about ways of preventing people from smoking. So many people keep saying that raising taxes will not curb smoking. I would 03.12.2025 1007 like to give my suggestions. In each and every Parliamentary Constituency or each and every block, you make available a place where quitting smoking can be initiated. There are several medications, several formulations which are available. … (Interruptions) You start that thing, then I will start with me. You first start doing this in all these places and we will work on that.

वक्ता Sougata Ray

कब कहा 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z

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