On a busy street near Patna’s Rajendra Path, 11-year-old Sanjay* watches his elder brother roll up tendu leaves stuffed with tobacco flakes. Within minutes, a fresh bundle of bidis is ready to be sold for one rupee (Re 1) to eager customers that have lined up outside his paan shop. There are no warning labels or age checks; the bidis are sold loose to minors and adults alike.
India is home to over 267 million tobacco users, struggling with a public health crisis rooted in mass consumption and underregulated usage. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2 (GATS2) conducted in 2016-17, 42.4 percent of men and 14.2 percent of women in India use some form of tobacco.
