Dhaka, June 27 (UNB) – Anti-tobacco campaigners on Wednesday urged the government to reconsider its budget proposal on tobacco and increase supplementary tax by 70 percent on all tobacco products for fiscal 2012-13.
 
Addressing a press conference, they said the supplementary tax on cigarettes has been increased by only 1-3 percent in the budget proposed for fiscal 2012-13 though the cigarette companies are making money by increasing the prices of cigarettes by 10 percent.
 
PROGGA and Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), a platform of journalists, jointly organised the press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
 
In a written statement, ATMA convener Ruhul Amin Rushd said although the bidi, which is very harmful to heath, is the cheapest tobacco product in the world, the government does not propose increasing tax on it.

He said the anti-tobacco alliances, economists and civil society organisations, earlier demanded that supplementary tax on all tobacco products be raised by 70 percent.
 
“About 60 MPs also wrote letters to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Finance Minister in this regard, but the Finance Minister didn’t consider it,” Rushd said.

PROGGA chairman Sayed Badrul Karim and ATMA working committee member Dr Anu Hossain also spoke at the press conference.