• March 28, 2024

Indian bidi producers shut down

 Indian bidi producers shut down

Indian bidi producers said on Thursday that they could no longer manufacture bidis for the domestic market, citing the government’s requirement that, from April 1, graphic and textural health warnings had to cover 85 percent of both sides of packs, according to a United News of India story.

‘The government has issued notification on October 15, 2014, necessitating printing of pictorial warnings on Beedi packets covering 85 per cent of each side of the packet,’ the All India Beedi Industry Federation (AIBIF) said in a statement.

‘As per the notification, beedis cannot be produced.’

The AIBIF president, RP Patel, said that since the bidi industry was law abiding, it had no option but to stop production.

“This is a traditional industry and it cannot be closed overnight,” he added, though he was quoted as saying also that all of the workers had lost their jobs overnight.

“The government has been indifferent to the plight of the bidi industry, despite repeated representations from various stakeholders.”

The association has appealed to the government to implement the recommendations of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, which in March suggested amending the law and reducing the size of the warnings to 50 percent on one side.

It said that it was not against the policy of curtailing the use of tobacco products.

Meanwhile, the authorities in India have already started to round up from retail outlets tobacco products that do not meet the new requirements.