The anti-tobacco activists have expressed their disappointment over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s failure to impose additional levies on tobacco products.
Anti-tobacco forum convenor Vasanthkumar Mysoremath said a “golden opportunity” to mop up some additional revenue to meet a part of the expenditure to be incurred on implementation of the guarantee schemes, had been lost.
He said that a levy of at least ₹1 per cigarette and ₹2 per bundle of bidis as “environment cleaning” tax could have been imposed on tobacco smokers. Such a levy was necessary to manage the “toxic, polluting, hazardous and non-biodegradable cellulose acetate filter ends and discarded residuary butts of cigarettes and bidis,” he said.
