The Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA), on behalf of FCV Tobacco farmers’, appealed to the government to reduce the high taxation on domestic products and curb the sale of smuggled cigarettes.
At a programme held in connection with World Tobacco Growers’ Day (WTGD) here on Saturday, October 28, FAIFA urged the Union government to enforce stringent regulations to curb smuggling of cigarettes. Low production of tobacco and lack of export incentives are among the problems of the FCV tobacco growers in the country, the federation said.
Executive committee member of FAIFA Mareddy Subrahmanyeswara Reddy, who is also a Member of the Tobacco Board, said that they had organised an awareness rally on their issues in Ongole. The federation, along with the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA), is celebrating the day for the 12th consecutive year. ‘‘India has embraced this event since the beginning in order to promote a positive socio-economic impact of tobacco in our country. Tobacco provides direct and indirect employment to more than 45.7 million people, 70% of them in the agricultural sector,’‘ he said.
