Court wants growers shifted away from tobacco

The High Court of Karnataka state, India, has directed the Indian and state governments to co-operate in jointly framing a policy for encouraging tobacco growers and workers to shift to other industries, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

The order is directed particularly at those working in the bidi sector.

And the court wants the governments to step up their actions aimed at reducing the consumption of tobacco.

Acting Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy passed the order while considering a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) petition filed by the Cancer Patients’ Aid Association.

The petition claimed that instead of reducing the production of tobacco, the authorities were promoting it by offering subsidies.

The government counsel apparently claimed that no subsidies were being given to tobacco growers, but that ‘a small amount is being assigned as incentive to licensed tobacco farmers’.